Collision Course
by B.B.Wolf123
Summary: A chance encounter in the Thailand jungle with a couple of S.I.N. agents causes the resident jaguar to catch the attention of a certain spider in a way that will change both their lives. Adon x Juri, eventually.
1. Chapter 1

_Well, I've been lurking on this site for quite a while now, and I figured it was about time I started posting my own stories. Seeing as this is one of my first ventures into the world of fanfiction and of posting online, for that matter, I hope I'm doing a decent job of it._

_Disclaimer: Street Fighter does not belong to me, although it would have been cool if it did. It belongs to CAPCOM. I'm writing this purely for fun. _

* * *

When Adon stalked into the clearing of the Thailand rainforest, it was with a certain amount of frustration.

Not that that was anything unusual: Adon tended to be frustrated with a lot of things in his life. He was frustrated with the overcrowding of his city. He was frustrated with the tourists overrunning his country. He was frustrated with his sparring partners and his challengers, all of whom were unable to keep up with him but _still_ only saw him as the apprentice of a certain one-eyed warrior.

In this case, his frustration was directed at said one-eyed warrior.

That wasn't anything unusual, either. In fact, the biggest part of Adon's enduring annoyance seemed to boil down to his former mentor, Sagat. Seeing – hell, _thinking_ of the man – irritated him to no end. Every conversation he had with Sagat was sufficient to ruin his temper for the better part of the day.

Such a 'conversation' – 'conversation' being too polite a word for it – had happened a couple of hours ago at the local gym in one of Bangkok's better-known districts, not far from where Adon lived. Sagat didn't normally visit the place, so it had taken Adon off guard when he had shown up to watch the fighters train. Something the bald warrior had said had vexed him more so than usual and the ensuing confrontation had gotten particularly heated. Afterwards Adon had felt the need to blow off steam in the jungle. Whether this entailed hours of rigorous training by himself or pacing around and fuming was still open for debate. Either way, he needed time alone. Whether in a good mood or a bad one, the red-haired Muay Thai practitioner had always preferred his own company over that of others'.

Focused as he was on his personal grievances, Adon didn't pay much attention to his surroundings. Consequently, he didn't he pay much attention to the three men dressed in unfamiliar uniforms who also happened to be in the clearing and who looked up in surprise at his arrival. The men were sweeping a mechanical device around the area. Whatever it was that they were doing appeared to be in secret, because they weren't overjoyed to have him walking in on their activity. They stopped working and shot him threatening looks. He didn't pay much attention to that, either.

"Hey, you!" one of them called out. "This place is off limits!"

Honestly, would it _kill_ Sagat to at least try to uphold the honor of Muay Thai? The way he was sitting on his mountaintop and pining for a rematch with Whatshisname, Ryu-or-whatever, was so pathetic it physically hurt. One would think he would use all that spare time for something useful, like training. But did he bother?

"Are you deaf? I said this place is off limits!" the man repeated angrily, approaching. His two associates were watching, smirking in anticipation. "Get the hell out! You'll be sorry if you don't!"

Of course not! Sagat would rather look grim and spout philosophical nonsense about the 'deeper meaning of the fight'. What had this 'deeper meaning' ever done for him except turn him into a disgrace? And that wasn't even the worst part. No, the worst part was the constant lecturing. "You should try and cultivate patience, Adon." "Letting your arrogance rule you is not the way, Adon." Ha! Like he needed advice from some washed-out, pitiful, weak –"

The man had reached him. "I told you to –," he began, and put a hand on the Thai's shoulder with the intention of pulling him around roughly.

Everyone who was even remotely familiar with Adon or his reputation would have known this was a bad idea. The man, unfortunately, had no such foreknowledge. He never saw the attack coming.

Adon shrugged off the hand and smashed his elbow into the man's face in one fluid motion, catching the man on the nose. His head snapped back and he staggered and tripped, falling heavily onto the mossy ground. He clutched at his face.

The red-haired Thai turned to look down on his fallen adversary as he let out a peal of high-pitched laughter, cupping his ear in a mocking gesture. "What was that you just said? Because for a moment there I thought you were trying to order me around!"

The man made a muffled, whimpering sound. His two companions stood frozen to the spot for a couple of seconds, gaping at the madman in front of them. Then one dashed at the Thai with a snarl.

Grinning, Adon bounded over the prone form of the man on the ground and at this second opponent, meeting him halfway. He deflected the man's wild swing without effort and spun on the ball of his left foot, his right leg snapping around to smash in his foe's ribs. The man let out a wheezing gasp and crumpled.

Seeing that the fight wasn't going exactly as planned, the third man decided on a different, smarter approach than that of his fellows. He fumbled for the gun at his belt and pulled the weapon from its holster just as an upward knee strike sent his colleague sprawling to the ground at his feet. He hefted the gun and aimed it at the Thai fighter.

"Don't move!" he croaked.

Adon settled in an easy stance, staring at the remaining opponent. He was still grinning, but his eyes had narrowed. "A gun, eh?" he sneered. "You can always try and shoot, but I hope for your sake that your aim is true."

The man, scared, hesitated. Then he dropped the gun and opted to help his dazed companion back to his feet, instead. The first man, the one who had been foolish enough to grab hold of the Muay Thai practitioner, had staggered to his feet as well, hands covering his nose. Blood seeped from between his fingers. He backed up until he reached his two associates. The three of them were clearly unwilling to continue the fight.

It hadn't been a challenge at all. Not that Adon had expected it to be; he was the God of Muay Thai, after all. Nevertheless, it was a disappointment. He jerked a thumb over his shoulder.

"Had enough? A wise decision. Now get lost."

The uniformed men proceeded to do so, shooting him dark looks as they circled past him and moved away, deeper into the rainforest. Before disappearing into the foliage, the first man turned back. "This isn't over," he spat, voice nasal due to his broken nose. "S.I.N. won't let you get away with this."

Adon gave a dismissive wave of his hand, already losing interest. He didn't bother to watch them leave and walked over to the mechanical device the men had been holding, eyeing it askance. It appeared to be some sort of measuring equipment, not something he had seen before. It lay on its side where it was dropped during the skirmish.

He kicked it aside for good measure. Then he resumed his pacing.

Now where was he? Oh, right. Sagat.

* * *

Juri Han wandered into the main hall of S.I.N. Headquarters to the sound of Seth's voice berating some of his men.

"….ridiculous! Getting beaten by a single person? This is an embarrassment to the organization!"

S.I.N.'s CEO sat in his high-backed chair, his body rigid with contained anger. The room's furnishings were sober, with only a couple of strategically placed chairs and rows of computer screens with different camera feeds lining the walls to break the monotony. The monitors cast a soft light on Seth's bulk and the cowering agents as he scolded them.

Juri was about to wander straight out again (listening to Seth was as interesting as watching paint dry) when he addressed her.

"Juri."

Juri smoothly pivoted on her heel, hand on hip. She returned his level look. "Seth."

His cold eyes told her in no uncertain terms he wasn't in the mood for her antics. "You're late."

She shrugged. "I overslept."

Never mind that it was the middle of the day. Truth be told, she hadn't felt like getting out of bed this morning, even though she knew that Seth expected his staff to rise early because….well, who the hell knew? Without a doubt it had something to do with the synthetic human's own lack of a need for sleep, but it was beyond the Korean why someone would insist on getting up early when you didn't have to.

It wasn't like she'd had anything interesting to do since coming to Thailand, anyway. Sure, Seth gave her assignments, but they were never _fun_. Doing Seth's dirty work was all well and good, but that got very boring very quickly without a proper challenge.

The leader of S.I.N. clearly didn't care for her answer. "I see," he said, and his metallic eyes hardened even further. He seemed about to reprimand her, then decided against it and instead only replied with: "Just don't let it happen again."

Juri knew she shouldn't push her luck and be glad she had gotten off easy, but she couldn't help but try and bait him just a little more. She sauntered over to one of the chairs and languidly draped herself over it, legs over the arm rest, feet kicking. She knew he didn't like that.

"Hey, I couldn't help it! This heat is making me drowsy," she complained. "I hate this place. The weather's a pain, you know? Maybe we could build the next base somewhere else. Like the North pole."

"Juri…."

"Installing air-conditioning in this dump wouldn't hurt, either."

Seth didn't reply. He stared at her for a while longer, disapproval coming off him in waves, before reverting his attention back to the hapless S.I.N. personnel in front of him. One of the men, a guy with a broken nose, had been shoved forward as official spokesperson. He was trying hard to put up a brave front under Seth's gaze, but was failing miserably.

"Tell me again how you could have failed at such a simple task." Seth asked him.

The man swallowed. "It-it was like I said before, sir. We were checking a couple of areas in the jungle for a potential expansion of our base of operations, just like you ordered," he shrugged helplessly. "We found a good place, a large clearing to the southeast of here, and were measuring the dimensions when some maniac attacked us."

Seth raised an eyebrow ridge. It was something he must have picked up on while studying humanity. "Did he now? Who was this man?"

"I don't know, sir. Some kind of local psychopath or something. He was Thai. Using that kickboxing style, I think."

"Did he see what you were doing?"

The agent swallowed again, embarrassed. "I doubt it, sir. He didn't seem very interested in us at all. He was mainly pacing about and muttering to himself. I couldn't understand the words. It wasn't until we tried to remove him from the premises that he proved….difficult."

Seth opened his mouth to speak, but Juri cut into the conversation, rolling her eyes. "Oh, please! It was only one person, right? How could the three of you _not_ have taken care of him?"

The man shot her a hooded glance, but refrained from replying in anger. He knew better than to provoke her. "He was quite strong, miss. Fast, too. We were unable to so much as lay a hand on him."

Juri pursed her lips, thinking. Last couple of weeks had been incredibly boring and the news of some maniac beating up S.I.N. personnel in the rainforest piqued her curiosity. Admittedly, taking on these three losers wasn't very impressive, but it still spoke of a certain amount of fighting prowess.

"Sounds interesting," she said. "Maybe I should –"

"No, you will not," Seth interrupted her brusquely. His head swiveled around and he glared at her. "If I chose to follow up on this incident it will be by my decision. One man hardly warrants enough reason for concern, and if I send you it will only draw unwanted attention. Besides, I have another assignment for you. One that is more important. I want you to gather intelligence on a man named Ryu…."

Juri made a gagging sound. "_Yawn!_ Can't someone else do it?" she sat up, nodding her head at the three S.I.N. agents. "I mean, these guys have proven pretty useless up until now."

Seth's expression darkened. "That is enough, Juri!" he snapped. He leaned forward, fingers clutching the arm rests of his chair. His patience was at an end. "Your recalcitrant behavior is getting tiresome! You will do what I tell you when I tell you! Is that clear?"

A silence fell after the outburst. The leader of S.I.N. and the Korean woman stared at each other, eyes locked. The three agents kept theirs lowered, the floor suddenly having grown very interesting.

Juri wondered how far she could go. Provoking Seth wasn't something she succeeded at often; perhaps it had to do with his inhuman nature, but he tended to take her attitude in stride, never reacting to her in the way that she wanted. She felt a thrill of pleasure at finally being able to get a rise out of him.

Then again, perhaps aggravating him wasn't such a good idea. Not now. She could still use him, or more specifically, S.I.N.'s recourses, to get her revenge. As much as she hated taking his orders, antagonizing Seth and losing his support could prove problematic.

Juri made her decision. She shrugged, feigning indifference. "Fine. Whatever."

The tension in the room evaporated abruptly. Seth sat back in his chair. "Good," he almost sounded satisfied. Almost. "Now leave me. I will speak to these fools about their incompetence alone."

The three men paled. Juri pulled herself from her chair and left the room, leaving Seth to deal with his henchmen. She wandered the hallways of the base, skipping past personnel busy setting up equipment, restoring wiring, fixing up rooms. Most of them quickly looked away when she came past.

It was weeks ago since they had moved into this newest facility and there was still a lot of work to be done. S.I.N.'s Thailand acquisition was a large building, constructed underground and consisting of several blocks with a temple complex as a cover, and it was in desperate need of refurbishment. It would take a while before everything was fully operational.

In a stroke of what was supposedly meant to be genius, the leader of S.I.N. had decided to use Bison's abandoned Shadaloo headquarters for his own. Seth claimed it was ironic. Juri just thought it was stupid. The artificial human might have freed himself from Bison's control, taking Shadaloo's weapon division with him and making it his own organization, but he shared his creator's urge for conquest. An urge that one day would prove fatal for him, she believed. Especially when he started flaunting his power and overreached himself; already Seth wanted to expand his influence by setting his sights on building an entirely new base.

And then he had the nerve calling her out on drawing unwanted attention….

In truth, Juri couldn't care less about Seth or his megalomania; she had only joined up with him to get close to Shadaloo. If Seth died in the meantime….well, she would simply have to adjust her plans accordingly. If getting her revenge meant walking over the artificial human's corpse or anyone else's to get there, so be it. As long as she got her chance to take down Bison. And have her fun, of course. Besides satisfying her own needs, very little mattered.

Speaking of needs….It took the Korean a couple of minutes before she realized her feet were taking her towards the base's exit and not the control room where she was supposed to go.

Juri stopped walking, turning her options over in her head. Sure, Seth had explicitly told her to check up on this guy named Ryu, but what did it matter if she went out for a while first? Take a break before starting on the long, tedious work that was waiting for her? Seth hadn't specified _when_ she was supposed to do the job, after all…..

Judging by the description of the idiot with the broken nose, the man in the jungle practiced Muay Thai. It made her curious as to how his skills would fare against her Taekwondo. She doubted he would last long, hardly anyone did, but it would prove a welcoming distraction. Finding this man and crushing him would alleviate her boredom. It would certainly help her get through the prospect of hours of rifling through S.I.N.'s databases and consulting with annoying underlings.

Yes, she would get the required information later, Seth be damned. Right now, she felt like doing something else. Smiling to herself, Juri left the base – the guards stationed at the exit wisely didn't try to stop her – and stepped into the humidity of the jungle, blinking into the midday sun. She looked around for a moment and then began walking towards the spot where the S.I.N. agents had said they had encountered the Thai warrior.

Time to see if she could find this so-called maniac.


	2. Chapter 2

Juri had been trudging through the rainforest for close to fifteen minutes – re-affirming that Thailand's weather really wasn't her thing – when the communicator at her belt began to beep, a harsh contrast with the gentle sound of the birds and other animals around her. Someone was trying to contact her.

"I knew I should've put the damn thing on 'mute'," she muttered.

There was no doubt who the caller was. Juri could picture Seth now, raging at his guards when it had turned out she hadn't shown up in the control room. He had found out that she had left sooner than expected….perhaps he was keeping tabs on her? Juri didn't know what was funnier: him actually attempting to keep an eye on her, or her nevertheless giving him the slip this easily.

The Korean woman thought of ignoring the beeping, then, when it went on, decided to answer it anyway with a long-suffering sigh. She lifted the device from her belt, clicked on the receiver and brought it to her ear.

"Hey, Seth!" she said cheerfully. "Fancy hearing from you!"

"What do you think you're doing, Han?" The artificial human's voice spoke coldly over the speaker. No greetings, no banter, not even calling her by her first name anymore. Boy, was he in a bad mood.

"Nothing," Juri lied. "Just taking a breather for a minute. A girl needs some time to herself, you know? I'll be back in a sec."

"If you think this is amusing, you are mistaken. You are my best agent, but I will not stand for this behavior, even from you. I gave you an assignment for a reason and I expect you to at least show enough restraint to –"

Juri pulled the communicator away from her ear, rolling her eyes and mimicking him in silence as Seth continued his speech. God, the guy was a pain.

When she sensed that he had finished, she brought the device back to her ear. "What was that? You broke up just now. I didn't get the last part."

"Damn it, Han! This had better not be deliberate or I will –"

"Oops, you're dropping away again! I can't hear you!" Juri shook the communicator, creating static. "I'll call you back later, okay? Bye!"

She cut the connection and placed the device back at her belt as she continued on her way. Seth didn't call her back. Apparently the tin man had gotten the hint.

It was a good thing too, because the Korean woman needed all her concentration to navigate the jungle. S.I.N.'s headquarters was far removed from human civilization and nature had been allowed to run its course around the base. Juri was nimble, and that was the only reason she hadn't tripped yet. Ivy and tree roots kept trying to snag her feet. Overhanging branches and plants seemed to take every opportunity to slap her in the face. S.I.N. guards had cleared paths here and there, most of them leading into the direction of Bangkok, but the undergrowth was still incredibly dense in parts.

She kept her eyes on the sun, making certain she was going the right way. After another fifteen minutes or so, she pushed aside a last bit of foliage and then the path opened up. She stepped into a clearing. It was large and circular, a tranquil spot somehow untouched by the encroaching rainforest. Small branches and rocks littered the place, but besides that it had stayed remarkably empty.

As far as Juri knew she hadn't been turned around during her journey so she figured this was the place Broken Nose had been talking about. She got her confirmation when she spotted the measuring equipment lying on the other side of the glade, broken and discarded. She paid it no further mind and instead ruffled her hair, dislodging twigs and leaves. Trips through the forest weren't new to her, but that didn't mean she liked them.

"Freaking trees," she hissed. "Should just burn them down, the lot of them."

"Or," came a voice from behind her, "you could try moving more carefully instead of stomping through the forest like a berserk elephant."

Juri turned to the speaker. She had half-expected the clearing to be abandoned. As she had moved through the rainforest she had wondered at her chances of finding the Thai boxer. In the time it had taken the agents to return to base and Juri to find her way to the correct spot, he could easily have left.

He was still there, however, sitting cross-legged on a slab of rock under a tree at the edge of the open space, behind and to the right of the Korean. He was observing her. His eyes were darting over her, taking in her slender form, her raven black hair, her Taekwondo attire. She saw him recognize her as a martial artist and he smiled. Similar to his remark just now, it was more condescending than friendly.

Juri looked him over at the same time and with the same insolence. The Thai couldn't exactly be called handsome; his features were too sharp and angular, too lined with resentment to be considered attractive. That said, the man's body was in perfect shape. He had a lean, muscular physique, built for agility more so than raw strength. He wore blue and yellow kickboxing shorts and his forearms and legs, including hands and feet, were wrapped in bandages. His torso was covered with a sheen of sweat; he must have been exercising until recently.

This appearance, coupled with the man's wild, red hair, gave him a somewhat manic demeanor. He didn't seem like a person to back down. In fact, the way he was slightly leaning forward, muscles tensed, told her he was spoiling for a fight.

Good. So was she.

Juri smiled. This was going to be more enjoyable than she had anticipated. She walked over to the Thai boxer, deliberately slow, twirling the sash hanging from her belt in one hand. He watched her approach and his thin lips twitched momentarily, either from amusement or something else. It wasn't uncommon for her to turn heads, particularly those of men.

He at least had the decency to stand when she stopped across from him, leaping with ease from the boulder he had been sitting on and giving her an even better look at his figure. If there ever had been any doubt he was in good shape, it was gone now; Juri could _definitely_ appreciate his body.

His personality? Not so much. She would make him pay for that comment about the elephant later, she decided. Right now, she wanted to go for a playful façade, see if she could wring information out of this idiot.

"Well, hello there. I was looking for you. I heard you beat up some of the men," she purred and wagged a finger at him. "If you don't watch it, people might get angry at you…."

The Thai regarded her, or more specifically, her finger, for a second. Then he clicked his tongue, making a 'tsk'-ing sound, and jerked his head in a way that somehow managed to convey both impatience and annoyance. Juri suspected he used the particular gesture quite often.

"And that is of concern to me how?" he asked, exasperation evident in his voice. "Those men tried to take me on and were unable to. It was their own stupidity that got them hurt." He shrugged. "If they work for you, you should fire them. They're useless."

As if she didn't know that already. Juri tilted her head. "Ever think that maybe you were in the way?" she remarked. "This area is under S.I.N.'s jurisdiction." That wasn't actually true; she was simply curious how he would react to her words.

The man wasn't impressed and merely scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous. You can't own a place like this. Whoever believes otherwise is a fool."

He had a point there, Juri admitted, thinking of Seth. It struck her that the red-haired Thai hadn't asked her about S.I.N. or who she was. Either he already knew, or he didn't care. Juri reckoned it was the latter. She pursed her lips. Perhaps a little intimidation was in order to undermine that nonchalance?

"I'd be a little more worried if I were you," she said slowly. "I could have been sent here to take you out, you know."

His smile was patronizing. "Of course you were."

"You don't believe me?"

"Why should I? It's not like you pose a threat to me."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And why not?"

"Because you wouldn't be able to defeat me if you tried," he told her smugly. "Your so-called martial arts is nothing compared to Muay Thai."

Juri placed her hands on her hips. "Why, aren't we full of ourselves," she remarked. Beating this guy to a pulp became an increasingly pleasant prospect. "I suppose you're some big, bad, important Muay Thai expert then, huh?"

"You suppose correctly." His confident smirk grew bigger. "I am Adon, the God of Muay Thai."

Adon. At least now she had a name. Not that it mattered much, but she liked to know the name of the arrogant bastard whose teeth she was going to smash in.

But first, some entertainment. "'God of Muay Thai'? I've never heard of that title. I thought Sagat was the Emperor?" she asked innocently.

Juri, like everyone else who was remotely familiar with the martial arts circuit, knew of the one-eyed warrior. She also knew he had lost the title of Emperor of Muay Thai and presumably never bothered to reclaim it. Someone else held the title now, and by the way this man was proclaiming himself (calling himself a 'God' of all things) she had a good idea who the ruling Muay Thai champion was.

Her suspicions were confirmed when Adon laughed, shrill and spiteful.

"Sagat? The _former_ Emperor of Muay Thai, you mean? He doesn't deserve the title, not after losing it to me. He isn't that great."

She pretended she had no clue what he was talking about and tapped a finger to her chin in fake puzzlement. "Really? A lot of people still see him as the greatest Muay Thai warrior there is," she said, and then added in a soothing tone: "but it's okay, though. I understand it must be hard, standing in his shadow and all. Not everyone can be like him, of course."

She had hit the mark; that stung. She could see it in his face, the way his expression shifted, how the fingers of his hands twitched and clenched into fists. He leaned forward with a sharp motion – he was quite a bit taller than her – and when he spoke his voice was dripping with venom.

"Don't you dare compare him to me! Sagat is a weakling who disgraced the name of Muay Thai by losing to that Japanese nobody! He should have resigned ages ago! He is _nothing_!" Juri almost expected him to stamp his foot. "I am a better fighter than he is!"

Juri smiled at him, not intimidated by the outburst in the least. "Wow, problems much? How old are you, anyway? Twelve?" she sneered, dropping her playful act. It had been fun – that were some deep-seated issues right there – but she was done playing. Verbally, at any rate. "Instead of hitting me with a temper tantrum, why don't you show me what you got for real?"

The Thai man calmed down abruptly. He rocked back on his heels and studied her. His smile returned, but it was a thin one. He _really_ hadn't appreciated her comments. "You want to see me fight?" he asked, eyes glinting balefully. "I'll be glad to show you. Just don't complain when I wipe the floor with your weak little fighting style."

That sounded like a challenge if ever there was one. Juri's tongue darted out, licking her lips. Her prosthetic left eye, a device called the Feng Shui Engine, reacted to her unconscious desire and whirred to life. She decided against activating it fully; she wanted to have the pleasure of defeating him without its power, to teach him his precious Muay Thai was no match for her. She could take down this conceited loser without boosting her abilities, easy.

The Korean took on a battle stance, taking in her opponent while asking herself the key question: to kill or not to kill? Even though it was very little, he knew about her and her organization, so the logical conclusion would be to finish him off as soon as possible….

But she'd rather break him first. She wanted to hear him scream. She wanted to make him beg for mercy. It would be far more satisfying to crush his pride under her foot than give him the easy way out by killing him quickly. She was going to amuse herself and she was going to make it last.

She gestured lazily at him with her gloved hand. "Well then," she said. "Let's see if you can satisfy me enough to make this interesting."

He was fast. One moment he had been standing beside the boulder, the next he was right in front of her, fingers of one hand curling in a fist. She hurriedly sidestepped, barely avoiding his jab. He whirled on her immediately, having anticipated her movement, and she only just managed to leap back from his next attack, a kick aimed at her stomach. Juri cursed herself for underestimating his speed.

Adon, watching her retreat, chuckled. "Not scared, are you?"

"What, of you and your weird hair or something? Give me a break," the Korean retorted, recovering from her initial surprise. She back-stepped further, creating distance between herself and her foe. She drew on her energy, her ki, as he came at her again and spun, hurling a bolt of crackling power with her leg. He couldn't have seen it coming, but he never flinched or broke stride. Instead he leaped over the surge of energy before it hit and twisted in mid-air, a powerful flip-kick, his heel slamming down on top of her head.

Or it would have, if Juri hadn't moved aside at the last instant. She dodged in a whirl of purple energy and realized she had instinctively tapped into her Feng Shui Engine to enhance her reflexes. The fact that she had been forced to do so, and this early in the match, made it clear this fight wasn't going to be as easy as she had envisioned it to be.

All right, so her _fuhajin_ wasn't going to work; guess she had to get up close and personal. Well, that was fine with Juri; she liked the physical exertion of having her fists and feet connect with flesh as much as she liked wearing down her opponent from a distance.

Adon had landed in front of her and Juri took the opportunity to dart forward, leading with a kick at his midriff. He blocked it and countered with a punch at her face. She jerked her head away, then responded with another kick, this one faster and viciously aimed at his kneecap. He deflected it. Where the first few attacks had been a testing of each other's reaction speed , the couple of minutes that followed was a continues stream of blows, feints and counter-hits as the two fighters assessed each other's defenses and searched for an opening.

Juri fought with abandon, throwing herself on the offensive in an attempt to make every strike hurt as much as possible. To her amazement, the red-haired Thai kept up with her, even though her unpredictable fighting style required him to adapt quickly. His own attacks – which mostly consisted of elbow and knee strikes – were swift and fierce, utilized to the fullest. It wasn't often that Juri had to pay attention to her defense as well as her offense.

There came an abrupt break in the exchange when she ducked low under one of Adon's elbow strikes and, in a sinuous motion that took her foe off-guard, pressed her left hand to the ground and pushed off, arching her body and kicking her left leg straight up. Her foot caught him under the chin.

He staggered back, blood trickling from a split lip. She threw a punch at him, but it was ridiculous how fast he recovered. Adon's hand snapped out, intercepting hers, and he grabbed hold of her wrist under the spikes on her glove. He yanked her forward.

Unable to steady herself, Juri pitched towards the Muay Thai warrior. Sensing a clinch coming up – one that would undoubtedly be followed by a couple of knees to her abdomen – she lashed out with her right leg, hooked her foot behind her opponent's left ankle, and pulled. Adon's eyes widened as he stumbled and fell backward. He kept hold of her wrist, however, and Juri, off-balance, went down with him. They tumbled to the earth together.

Somehow she managed to land on top of the Thai boxer, heard his gasp when she drove the air from his lunges. Juri instantly took the opportunity to straddle the waist of her downed and winded opponent with her legs, wrenching her hand from his grip and using it to press his arm down, pinning him to the ground. Tiny, sharp rocks dug into her knees. She felt the hard muscles of his stomach when she leaned forward, saw the shock registered in his gaze at the unexpected turn of events as he fought for breath.

"I hope that felt as good for you as it did for me," Juri whispered. She smiled in satisfaction, relishing the fact that she had brought him down. "Don't worry," she added, briefly patting his cheek with her free hand. "The fun's just beginning. I'm intending to do a lot more before we're through."

She pulled her hand back to strike him on the side of the head, but the fall hadn't dazed him as sufficiently as she had thought; again, it was ridiculous how fast he recovered. The Thai snarled and with a sudden burst of strength literally beat her to the punch by smashing the fist of his own free arm in her face.

Juri rocked back, losing her hold on him. Adon's fingers dug into her skin as he grabbed her shoulders and rolled over, pulling her with him. Within seconds their roles were reversed, with Juri lying on the ground and him sitting astride her, smirking. He had evidently regained his infuriating attitude together with his breath.

The Korean woman ignored the throbbing pain in her right eye-socket where he had struck her and looked up at him. "I see you like to be on top," she breathed.

Adon's smile vanished and he stared at her incredulously, momentarily too startled to react. Then he burst out laughing. "As if I would have any interest in a lunatic bitch like you!" he crowed. "Believe me, you're not nearly as desirable as you think you –"

His sentence was interrupted when Juri twisted one shoulder free and slammed the palm of her hand upward, hitting him under the chin again and eliciting a grunt of pain. Adon released her and she shoved him away. He bounded back to his feet, giving Juri the chance to stand, as well.

A temporary lull in the battle, they seized up each other from a distance. Juri, noticing that the trickle of blood at the corner of the Thai's mouth had increased, creased her brow in feigned concern. "Aww, is that blood? Did I hurt you, sweetie? I didn't mean to be too rough on you...Oh, wait!" She snapped her fingers, giggling. "I did!" She stretched, manner provocative. "So how about it? You're not done already, are you?"

"Done? Me? I'm just getting started!" Adon brought the back of his hand to his mouth and wiped away blood, leaving a red smear across the white tape, all the while staring at her. It was clear that he was taken aback by her behavior more than he cared to admit, and he must have realized by now that she wasn't joking, but she saw no fear in his eyes. Instead, they narrowed thoughtfully.

"It seems you have a small amount of skill. I'll give you that," he said, in a way that suggested he was bestowing some great honor onto her. The smirk returned. "But it's not enough, of course. You might have surprised me for a second there, but you won't be so lucky next time."

Juri dropped her arms to her sides. That was_not_ what she had wanted to hear! Why wasn't he more frightened, more intimidated? She had made people cower by so much as glancing at them! This bastard didn't even flinch before her! Worse, he was downright brushing her off! It wasn't something the Korean woman was used to.

"Right, because obviously Mister Self-styled 'God of Muay Thai' has such an easy time kicking my ass!" Juri snapped sarcastically, refusing to let him get the best of her. She gestured sharply. "Come on, then! Try and take me on! I'll just bleed you some more!"

Adon blinked at her, then his mouth twisted in a sneer. "You do know that winning a fight is more important than merely participating in one, don't you?" he said, his mocking tone angering her more than it had any right to. He clicked his tongue and shook his head as if truly disappointed with her. "Then again," he went on disdainfully, "judging by your frantic need to harm me instead of defeat me, I suppose that fact is beyond your comprehension."

Juri growled – he should be fearing her, not deride her! – and lunged at him again. He was ready for her and more punches and kicks were exchanged. Some got blocked, some avoided, and some connected with stunning force. Going at each other like this, Juri understood why Adon held, and had been able to keep, the position of Emperor of Muay Thai. He was good. She hadn't been forced to fight like this in a long time. And he showed no intention of letting up. Stubbornly, neither did she.

It went on like this for a while before the two combatants broke away again. They circled each other, both breathing hard, both bruised and battered, neither able to get the upper hand or willing to concede defeat. Juri had lost sense of how much time had gone past. It felt like hours. Her clothing was filthy, covered in earth, her feet dirty from digging them into the loose soil of the clearing. Her heart pounded. Sweat ran down her face, plastering her black hair against her skin. Her muscles ached and protested. Bruises and cuts throbbed and stung. Her left eye burned.

She was exhausted and in pain, but despite all this, the Korean felt a thrill run through her body. It was an unusual sensation and it took her a while before she could place the feeling: delight. She hadn't had this much fun in ages. Regardless of her dislike for the man in front of her, it had been so long since she had been tested like this, and she loved it!

She was forced to give it her all, and more. But then, so was her opponent. Despite his contemptuous attitude toward her abilities, Juri was giving him a run for his money. He wasn't faring better than her, was looking as beat-up as Juri herself felt. Nevertheless, he was as determined to come out the victor as she was. Juri could have squeezed more power out of the Feng Shui Engine, probably should have, but she reveled in the battle too much as it was. Just her, her opponent, and the excitement of the fight – that was all that mattered.

However, as much as Juri was enjoying herself, a stab of agony in her side and chest told her it was time to end the fight. She couldn't keep this up much longer. The thought of slowly breaking or killing her opponent all but forgotten, the Korean concentrated on finishing the fight right here, right now. She dodged one of Adon's weakening punches – which basically came down to her staggering to the side – thought she saw an opening and lunged, putting all of her remaining strength behind the blow.

Unfortunately, in her eagerness she misjudged and let herself wide open. Her opponent checked his feint and then threw a punch at her for real. Except his attack was off, too; equally as tired as Juri, the Thai boxer was no longer fast enough to avoid her strike. Two fists shot forward at the same time. Neither held back in any way. Both got the full brunt of the impact.

Juri's blow smashed flat Adon's pointed nose. He reeled back with a pained squeak.

Adon's punch almost dislocated Juri's jaw. She stumbled, barely able to keep her balance. Black spots danced in front of her vision. The world tilted crazily.

A rustling sound. Vague, unclear figures. Her vision cleared, but it took her a while longer to understand that four men had stepped into the clearing. They were armed, dressed in uniforms of S.I.N. She stared at them, unable to comprehend what they were doing here. Then her thoughts snapped back into clarity and she realized what was happening – just in time to see one of the men aim his weapon at the Thai warrior, who was still recovering from Juri's hit.

"No!" she snarled, and lurched forward. Her hand shot out, striking the gun's barrel. The weapon rocked to the side just as it went off. The shot rang through the clearing like a crack of thunder.

It missed Adon by an inch. He winced and turned to the new arrivals, blood streaming from his nose, eyes slightly unfocused. Then he shook his head and recovered his senses, becoming aware of the situation. The red-haired fighter tensed and it actually looked as if he was going to attempt to fight them. But instead he spat a curse and whirled, sprinting for the clearing's edge. He was fast, even in his injured state. The guards, uncertain what to do after Juri's reaction, let him go.

Juri took a step in the Thai's direction before she understood what she was doing and froze. What the hell was wrong with her? Was she seriously thinking of going after him? For what, to ask him to continue the match? What was she, pathetic? She despised the man! She'd rather kill herself than ask that annoying, ugly bastard _anything_! She should have just let him get shot and be done with it!

But the fight had been so close! So exciting! She could have won if those stupid guards hadn't….! Unsure of the myriad of conflicting emotions welling up, Juri hesitated. She watched the Thai man reach the jungle's tree line and plunge into the undergrowth. For a split second she could make out the wild, red hair.

Then he was gone. She had lost her chance to finish the fight.

The S,I.N. men stood about, exchanging glances. One of them turned to her. "Miss, are you all right? We were sent here to –"

Juri's fist slammed into his cheek. The man yelped and fell on his back heavily. He stared up at her, too afraid to speak. The other three guards didn't move, shock and incomprehension evident in their expressions.

Juri turned away from them and started to limp back to headquarters, angry with herself, with the guards and with a certain synthetic human.

She needed to exchange a few words with Seth.


	3. Chapter 3

_Wow, getting out this chapter took much longer than intended…._

_Well, anyway, it's here. I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed the story up until now. It's very much appreciated! _

* * *

Adon gingerly touched the bridge of his nose with his fingers, hissed as red-hot pain lanced through the appendage and into his skull, and savagely cursed his reflection in the mirror. No doubt about it: the nose was broken. As if he hadn't known that by the fact that the appendage was at a different angle than it was meant to be. It was ironic in a way, he supposed, receiving such an injury after doing the same to the guard in the jungle. Still, irony was something the red-haired Thai had little patience for, especially when directed at his own person.

He studied himself in the mirror, surveying the damage with a critical eye. A nasal fracture was only one of the few things left over from his fight with the madwoman in the forest. His lower lip was swollen, split and bloodied. The skin around his nose and eyes was bruised, with more discolorations on his torso and arms. His ribs throbbed, not broken or bruised, but close enough. She had really done a number on him, he realized, as he stared at his reflection, feeling a familiar sense of frustration bubbling to the surface.

The injuries weren't what angered Adon. Having trained and fought extensively for years in the Muay Thai circuit – and quite a few of those years under Sagat's harsh tutelage – he'd had his fair share of broken bones and dislocated limbs. No, what was galling was having been forced to break off the fight before its conclusion. Not that he hadn't been winning – because he had been, obviously, and would have if the match hadn't been interrupted – but backing out of a confrontation, whether a battle or an argument, wasn't something that came natural to the Thai fighter. It felt too much like a sign of weakness.

He hadn't had much choice in the matter, Adon tried to tell himself. Taking on armed men wasn't done lightly or something he was used to, and in the state he had been in it hadn't been an option at all. And yet, despite this reasoning, a retreat was a retreat, anyway you looked at it. He spat another curse, this time directed at the woman, slamming his fist on the washbasin. Damn her! If she couldn't win her battles without sending in her men, she had no business fighting in the first place!

He shook his head with an abrupt motion, hissing when it sent a painful stab through his face, and calmed down with difficulty. That accusation wasn't fair, he admitted grudgingly. She had been as surprised as he was when those men had shown up. Uncontrolled and aggressive, the woman had put up more than enough of a fight before. Hadn't looked pleased at the interruption herself, in fact…..

Adon shook his head again, carefully this time. Regardless, whatever it was that had happened, it had completely ruined his victory. He had spent the entire journey to Bangkok mulling over the battle and its end. The sun had been dipping low towards the horizon when he had finally made it back to the outskirts of the city, battered, weary and angry. He had headed home, then remembered he had left his bag with the first aid kit at the gym after his conversation with Sagat, and had gone there instead.

The Muay Thai training compound had turned out deserted, something that wasn't strange at this hour of the evening. He had picked up his bag where he had left it on one of the benches lining the wall of the main exercise chamber – no one in his right mind would dare to try and steal it – and had proceeded to the white-tiled restroom through the corridor at the end of the hall to examine his wounds. As he had observed, the injuries were many, but not too severe.

Well, there was the broken nose, of course. Adon touched it once more, feeling for the fracture, steeling himself. Fortunately, the break was a clean one and didn't appear too bad. Unfortunately, it still needed to be realigned. He took a deep breath, then placed his palms against his nose, pressing down firmly as he exhaled, taking the first painful step in setting the broken nose.

After finishing the procedure, which took a long, grueling fifteen minutes in all, the Thai leaned on the washbasin, waiting for the waves of dizziness to pass and blinking tears of pain from his eyes. He took another look in the mirror. Satisfied his nose was straight again, Adon washed the blood from his face, pinkish water running down the drain in rivulets, and rummaged in his bag, taking out bandages to pad his nose with. After he was finished, he pulled spare clothes from his bag and dressed in a simple shirt, shorts and sandals. Then he headed out of the restroom and back into the main hall.

Sagat was there. The one-eyed Muay Thai practitioner stood at the edge of the large mat spread out in the middle of the chamber, own bag at his feet, finishing unbinding the wrappings from his forearms. Standing an easy seven feet tall and built like a rock, the bald warrior struck an imposing figure. His hard features and the black eye-patch over his right eye added to his intimidating presence. A jagged scar ran across his bare chest. It was the scar given to him by the karateka Ryu. The one that had turned him into an embarrassment.

Adon's mouth twitched in distaste. As if seeing the man's face once already hadn't been enough. He hadn't noticed the one-eyed fighter before; hadn't expected him to still be here. He must have come from the locker rooms. As it was, it was an unwelcome addition to an already bad day.

It was at that moment that the red-haired Thai realized he had halted in the doorway and, vexed at his own hesitation, stalked into the chamber.

"Shouldn't you be off brooding in a corner somewhere?" he asked venomously.

Infuriatingly, Sagat chose not to react to the jibe. He didn't seem surprised at his former pupil's appearance as he calmly put away his arm and wrist wrappings. "I decided some exercise was in order. One can learn from other warriors," he replied, voice a low rumble. Then he glanced up. To his credit, his expression didn't change when he saw Adon's battered form. "What happened?"

Adon gestured at his face, sneer evident as it always was when addressing his former mentor. "Isn't it obvious? I fought a woman and blocked her fist with my nose."

"A woman?"

"Yes, a woman. A person of the opposite sex. If you climb down from your mountain more often you might be able to spot one."

Sagat's features tensed imperceptibly. He crossed his arms in front of his massive chest. "Your rudeness truly knows no bounds."

"Neither does your habit of asking stupid questions!" Adon shifted his bag on his shoulder and stepped onto the mat, wincing when his body protested at even that simple action. "If you have something to say to me, say it," he told the older man. "Unless it's another one of your tiresome lectures, because in that case you can stop right now and not bother."

Sagat seemed about to give a retort, then thought better of it. "Suit yourself," he said after a moment. And couldn't keep from adding: "Just know that picking fights like this is foolish. If you want to keep your title when challenged, you would do well to act less reckless."

Adon clicked his tongue, heading for the exit. "Somehow you seem to have missed the part where I told you I don't give a damn about your advice," he pointed out. "You're not my teacher anymore."

"If your immature behavior is anything to go by, advice is clearly still a necessity," Sagat returned. He watched Adon stomp past him, observing his former apprentice and the wounds he had sustained. "The woman must have been a competent fighter," he remarked. "You had a hard time beating her, I see." He tilted his head. "Or didn't you, perhaps?"

Adon whirled on him. "Of course I would have!"

"'Would have' hardly sounds convincing." Sagat picked up on the slip of the tongue with unerring precision and Adon glared at him.

"_Did_," he said. "I _did_ win. The match got interrupted before I could take her down." His grin was unconcerned. "Needless to say, it would only have been a matter of time."

The bald warrior gave him a level stare. "It's not that self-evident, Adon. You can't win every battle."

"Yes, well, you would know all about that, wouldn't you?" Adon smiled derisively. "And anyway, that's where you're wrong. I'm not like you. I won't lose. Especially not from some Taekwondo-using nutcase from one silly organization or another who –"

Then he realized he actually knew nothing about her, not even her name.

Adon trailed off, frowned, let his mind go over the conversation leading up to the battle. The woman had been babbling about S.I.N. and how good she was and more of that nonsense, but had never told him her name. Then again, he had never asked it, either.

Bizarrely, not knowing her name bothered him. It was ludicrous, of course. Why should he care about a big-mouthed maniac who was obviously on some sort of power trip and had a too high opinion of herself? He couldn't stand those kind of people at the best of times, so why start now?

Truth was, the fight had been a good one. She had definitely managed to put up a passable fight. The match had been far more interesting than fending off the rows of amateurs he had faced in the ring the last couple of months to challenge him for his title.

Adon didn't really mind referring to her as 'that crazy woman', but he _could_ at least have extended her the courtesy of asking her for her name. He should have learned at least something about the opponent he was facing, if only so he knew who he had been beating into the ground. In all honesty, he was just a bit curious as to what her name was. _Who_ she was.

He looked up, saw his former mentor studying him.

"A problem?" Sagat sounded like he already knew the answer.

"Nothing that's any of your business." The snide remark came automatically, the red-haired fighter's thoughts for once not on the Muay Thai master. The woman couldn't have come from nowhere; surely he could find _some_ information about her? She stood out, there was no doubt about that. If he asked around in the right circles he was bound to learn a thing or two…

Seeing that it was no use speaking to the red-haired fighter one way or another, Sagat shook his head, picked up his bag and left. Even though Adon would normally had been quite satisfied at getting in the last word, at the moment he gave it little attention, his mind on something else as he weighed different options in his head.

He could go into town right now and ask around for the woman. If he wanted to learn more about his opponent, he might as well start this instant. Or he could go home and rest and look for information another day. With the way he was feeling at the moment, it wasn't an unpleasant prospect.

But in the latter case it would mean he was going to have to _wait_. Patience having never been his strong suit, Adon quickly settled on a decision and left the gym, heading for the inner city.

At night Bangkok's street were as busy as by day. The temples and more tourist-friendly attractions closed and were replaced by garish nightclubs, putting up their neon signs for whomever was interested. Bars, both classy and shady, opened their doors for both upstanding and dubious clientele. Figuring a sadistic shrew would fit in well with the underworld crowd, Adon decided to look into the more criminally-oriented areas for information about the woman. Despite the reputation these districts held, the Thai boxer went there without fear. According to the people who knew him, and mostly Sagat for that matter, Adon always had too little sense to be afraid of anything.

As expected, hunting for knowledge about a single woman in a teeming, immense city like Bangkok turned out to be difficult, even when narrowing down the options, and it was only sheer stubbornness that kept the red-haired Thai going when time went by and the aching of his wounds became increasingly worse.

As the Emperor of Muay Thai Adon was recognizable, and in the bad shape he was in he could have made a tempting target to anyone who wanted to increase their own standing by taking down the ruling champion. However, no one challenged him; his bruised and haggard look accentuated his manic appearance and actually served to discourage people from attempting anything. He did receive more than a few stares, however; seeing the Emperor in such a state begged the question who had been capable of doing such a thing. At least he had enough prestige for most of the people he questioned to tell him what they knew, even if it was only a little.

Information about S.I.N. itself was scarce. The organization presumably trafficked in weapons, but it kept a low profile and remained in the shadows. Not only that, but people turned tight-lipped when asked. Either they knew nothing, or refused to speak off it.

The woman, on the other hand, was far less discreet. From what he could gather, she had been in Bangkok more than once. One name in particular arose whenever she was brought up: 'Spider'. He took it to be the woman's codename, but it didn't tell him anything about her real one. Besides that, the rumors surrounding her (which were heard from a friend who had heard it from a colleague who had heard it form an associate...) ranged from the realistic to the absurd.

According to one story, she was a robot (Adon was sure that she wasn't) who could catch bullets with her teeth (he was sure that she couldn't). Another one swore she was an actual spider in human form (Adon knew for certain _that_ wasn't true) with another claiming her bite was poisonous and she only killed men. Or women. The details remained unclear.

The stories that might have some truth to them whispered that she was an assassin, an agent doing S.I.N.'s dirty work and who left a path of destruction in her wake, either for fun or on duty. Or that she didn't work for S.I.N. at all and kept her own agenda. Both of these rumors seemed to be in keeping with the woman's character, as far as Adon was concerned.

Nevertheless, there was one thing all the stories agreed on: she was vicious and murderous. The last person he spoke to before finally heading home, a proprietor of a bar that was more shady than criminal, had even warned him outright. "You'll want to steer clear from that one," he said in a low voice. "From what I've heard, she's dangerous. You don't want to mess with someone like that."

The Thai boxer laughed at that. "If you expect me to cower and run away from her, you're mistaken," he boasted. "I'm not afraid of some insane woman. A spider is no match for a jaguar."

He honestly wasn't expecting to see her again. The information he had managed to acquire had turned out disappointingly little. He had no way of finding her, even if he had wanted to. So Adon had clamped down on an unexpected pang of displeasure and shrugged.

"Besides," he added, "what are the chances of me ever encountering her or her organization again?"

Of course, speaking those words, he had no idea how wrong he was.

* * *

The evening Adon spent quarrelling with Sagat and hunting for knowledge about Juri, Juri herself spent mostly arguing with Seth.

She had come back to base in a foul mood, instantly heading over to Seth's throne room, the four guards who had been sent after her meekly trailing behind. The synthetic human had glanced up when she burst inside, put aside the files he had been looking at and regarded her carefully, like one would a rabid dog that could attack at any second.

Juri stopped in front of his chair and hurled her communication device at his feet. It flew to pieces on the floor. Even though it accomplished very little in the grand scheme of things, it made her feel better.

"Seriously, Seth?" she snarled. "Sending your goons after me? Don't you have anything better to do?"

The four guards snuck away and left their boss to weather the storm that was Juri Han, something he did with a stoic expression.

"I was merely worried about you," he told her gravely. "I would hate it if anything were to happen to my most valued agent."

Juri placed her hands on her hips. "Bullshit!"

Seth raised an eyebrow ridge.

"Don't give me that innocence crap. You don't have the capacity for it," she sneered. "You were just pissed I didn't immediately jump at your order like a good little girl and so you felt the need to assert your power. It's kind of sad, really."

Seth straightened in his chair, a sure sign he was getting angry. "Now, Juri," he said, a dangerous undertone in his voice. "There is only so much patience I have left. I recall you promising me your loyalty in exchange for an opportunity at revenge. I provided you with the Feng Shui Engine." His expression went cold. "I hope giving you that device wasn't a mistake."

He had a point. She had promised as much. And he had given her the Engine, which was an added bonus. Juri knew she had been out of bounds by disregarding Seth's orders. Theoretically, he had every right to be mad at her. But giving in easily was simply not what Juri Han did.

She scowled at him. "You ruined my fight!"

"There wasn't supposed to be one to ruin in the first place! I had given you a specific assignment that had nothing to do with you starting a fight!"

"So? I was bored! Do you know how dull these administrative tasks are?! You can't expect me to get on with office work when there's a guy outside I can beat up instead!"

"Indeed." Seth's gaze pointedly raked across her bruised figure. "I can see how well that turned out."

Juri balled her fists. "I was _winning_," she growled, "until I got interrupted."

"So you didn't take him out."

"If your goons hadn't shown up I would have, making this basically _your_ fault!"

The artificial man sighed, rubbed his grey forehead. He was still angry with her, that much was clear, but also not in the mood for an argument. "Very well!" he snapped finally, exasperated. "I will see if I can cater more to your particular tastes in the future. But," he went on, and held up a finger. "I expect you to take the tasks I give you more seriously as well from now on. Agreed?"

Juri thought it over. Took her time doing so. She had vented her frustration, was still frustrated, the unfinished fight playing through her mind, but overall she had gotten off lightly. Better to keep it that way for the moment.

She gave a theatrical sigh, threw up her hands. "All right! All right! Next time, I'll try harder not to run off immediately when you give me another dull assignment. There. Happy?"

It wasn't exactly what Seth had meant and both knew it, but realizing it wouldn't get any better than this, the synthetic human gave a curt nod. "Then I take it that business with the Thai kickboxer is settled now?" he asked.

The Korean waved a hand. "What? Oh, yeah. I'm totally over that guy."

He kept staring at her. "You will resume your duties?"

"Sure thing." Juri gave another wave and turned to leave. "I'll get on that Ryu case tomorrow."

And it had been her fullest intention to do exactly that. She had gone to her room, tired, body bruised and hurting all over. Her jaw felt like it was on fire, one massive contusion on one side of her face. Her right eye was swollen almost shut, making it hard to see through. Her left eye acted up, too. It felt off somehow; there was a tiny hitch whenever she moved the eye that contained the Feng Shui Engine. The bastard hadn't pulled his punches.

Well, neither had she. Her victory might not have been as decisive as she had wanted, but Juri had her fun. She had shown him he couldn't mess with her and that was that. She had sorted out her emotions and the case was over and done with.

Except that it wasn't. That night, the Korean fighter lay awake, going over the battle in her mind, evaluating every kick and punch she had delivered to see what she could have done to take her opponent down faster, assessing her foe's moves to think up a counter. She barely slept at all.

Next day Juri went to the control room and searched for information about the person named Ryu , hacking into different databases – most noticeably Shadaloo's – to gather intel about the man. It turned out to be difficult; the Japanese man travelled the world, never settling down, always in search of ever stronger opponents. Someone like this Ryu would definitely have peaked Juri's interest some other time, but he wasn't here. Someone else was.

After she had sent the data to Seth, she found herself searching for information on the red-haired Thai boxer. This was easy. He was quite famous in Bangkok and its surroundings, having held the title of Emperor for over two years. He had developed his own style, the Jaguar style, which he had built from the ground up to differentiate it from Sagat's own Tiger style and….She laughed out loud at the next bit of information. Apparently her remark about standing in Sagat's shadow had been much closer to the truth than even she could have guessed. He had been Sagat's apprentice for years before an unspecified falling-out with his mentor had made him cut ties with the bald Muay Thai master.

Juri pursed her lips. Jaguar King…Muay Thai Emperor….he had racked up quite the amount of titles for himself. Too bad he wouldn't enjoy them for much longer.

Finding out where he lived was easy as well and she committed the address and district to memory. Now she knew where to find him. Now she could seek him out.

She wanted a rematch.

After spending the night contemplating the fight, Juri had come to the conclusion that she hadn't taught the Thai fighter nearly enough of a lesson. The battle had been fun, thrilling, but had ended unfinished, leaving her dissatisfied. On top of that, the sheer notion that the arrogant warrior was walking around with the _idea_ in his head that he could have won was difficult for her to stomach. She would seek him out, she decided, and this time she would use the Feng Shui Engine.

A week came and went and Juri was biding her time. She could be patient if she wanted to. Seth involved her in his schemes as he poured over plans for his new base, his BLECE project and some sort of tournament he had in mind while Juri listened and recuperated from her wounds. Her bruises healed over. Pain faded. Stiff muscles loosened. Only her left eye still felt wrong, an unpleasant twinge at the back of her skull. She assumed it needed more time to heal and tried to pay it no mind.

Another week went by and she became restless. Seth had been called away on urgent business to his American facility, leaving her to take care of things in his absence, and the Korean had difficulty resisting the urge to head out and confront the red-haired Thai. Nonetheless, she waited. She wasn't completely healed yet, and as she was recovering from her injuries, so would he. It would be more fun if he was capable of putting up a fight, as small as it was against the full power of the Engine. She wondered how he would fare against it, couldn't wait to see his expression when she used it.

When Seth returned at the start of the third week, resumed his duties and called her over with an assignment that would take her to Bangkok, she had a hard time keeping her excitement in check.

"One of our weapon smugglers has felt the need to try and blackmail S.I.N. for money. If we don't pay him he will go to the authorities," Seth explained to her. "Of course, we cannot allow the fool to get away with this. I want you to take care of him." He showed her a document with the address.

Juri looked it over, memorized it, nodded. "No problem. I'll go right now."

Something in her tone must have tipped the synthetic human off. He glanced up from the files he was rifling through. "'No problem'? Just like that?"

The Korean spread her hands. "Should there be anything else? In case you haven't noticed, I enjoy this kind of work."

"There is no….other reason?" His gaze remained on her, eyes unblinking.

"Seth, how could you!" Juri gasped. She pressed her hand to her chest, mock hurt. "Your distrust wounds me! Don't you see I'm your loyal follower? I would do nothing to –"

"Yes, yes, all right," Seth interrupted her with an impatient gesture, annoyed with her antics. "Just go, will you?"

Juri smirked, turned away and left to prepare herself.

She travelled to Bangkok late in the afternoon. The weapon smuggler lived close to the Chao Phraya River that cut through the city, his newly built two-story house – no doubt where the money had come from – standing out among the cheaper buildings. The man's house stood in a remote, quiet spot, making it easy for Juri to break inside without alarming neighbors. It was even easier catching her prey, unaware of danger, at his dinner table. The man turned out to be a sniveling fool, facing his death like a weakling, sobbing and begging until the end.

Juri took whatever pleasure she could from his plight before at last finishing him off. She left him lying in a pool of his own blood when she was done, not bothering to cover up the murder, her mind already on the other, more interesting prey that was located in the part of the city on the other side of the river.

She found Adon's residence without trouble, only to run into a problem she hadn't thought of: he wasn't home. The sun had set by the time she arrived and no lights were on in the house, a nondescript building at the corner of the street that looked oddly unassuming for its flashy occupant.

Juri peered through one of the window. "Here, kitty, kitty," she whispered. It was completely dark inside. She could dimly make out the contours of furniture and nothing more.

The Korean woman stepped back, disappointed, but not ready to give up yet. He could be anywhere, but she had a feeling he was close by. She glanced up and down the street. Now if she were an arrogant, self-obsessed jerk where would she be…..?

Her eyes caught a signpost and she smiled. Of course. A Muay Thai sports hall. Someone who was as fixated on getting better as this guy was would spend most of his time there.

Her feet took her to a greyish complex a couple of blocks from the Thai's home, fenced and with a small courtyard at the front, poles for exercising standing interspersed over the area. The fence was open, as was the door, light spilling across the threshold. Moving across the courtyard, she could hear the telltale sound of limbs hitting a sandbag coming from inside. Her smile widened when she picked up a shout of exertion. The voice was easily recognizable.

She stepped through the doorway. Adon stood at the back of the hall, dressed in Muay Thai garb, his right leg slamming into a heavy bag with powerful kicks. He sensed her and stopped what he was doing, turning to look at her fully.

Juri licked her lips. "Found you," she said.


	4. Chapter 4

Adon was one of those rare individuals who hardly, if ever, questioned themselves. He had a clear self-assurance in his own abilities, which tended to lean heavily to the overconfident, and a clear preconception of those he saw as weaker than himself, which tended to be a lot of people.

So when the woman suddenly appeared at the gym's entrance after having sought him out on her own volition, it came as a surprise.

It had been two weeks since the battle. Most of the Thai's wounds had healed over, except for his fractured nose, and in those weeks there had been no sign of her. Figuring she had learned her lesson, the Muay Thai warrior had been fully convinced he wouldn't see her again and had attempted to put her out of his mind.

But now here she was, dressed in the same outfit she had worn previously, looking the same as she had before; she was wearing the small black-and-pink breastplate held together in the front with straps. The one that didn't leave much to the imagination. The white, baggy pants with hot pink leggings underneath completed the ensemble. Like before, her feet were bandaged with black wrappings and she was wearing the pink gloves with spikes on the wrists, her black hair expertly twisted into two horns on the side of her head, adorned with rings to keep it that way.

She strutted inside as if she owned the place, one hand on her hip. "Hmmm," she purred appreciatively, looking around. "Nice little hideout you got here. And just the two of us, too. No interruptions. Isn't that just our luck?"

Her insolent way evaporated his surprise and put him on the offensive immediately. "You again? Didn't I beat you already?"

"I think you're confused on who did the actual beating." The woman smiled at him. "So how's the nose?"

It wasn't meant as a friendly question. She had noticed his nose had been broken and wasn't fully healed yet. Her violet eyes were locked onto his, large and expressive, but glittering with a sadistic light.

Admittedly, when not taking the eyes into account, her face was actually attractive, with full lips and smooth skin. And although she wasn't tall, she was pretty, with a supple and lean body. In fact, overall, she was quite well-form –

Adon shook his head. What was he doing, checking her out like this? She was a strange, unpleasant woman, one he didn't even like! It wasn't as if he had any interest in her!

Pushing aside the unintentional thoughts, he stepped away from the heavy training bag and onto the mat.

"The nose? If that was the best you could do, you should stop fighting altogether," he mocked, and returned her smile. "So how's the jaw?" He could spot the light discoloration around her chin and cheek.

The woman had halted at the edge of the mat across from him. She tossed her head at his question, scoffing. "Please. You think this hurts? That this would frighten me away?"

Her eyes travelled over him, gleeful, predatory. There seemed to be something off with the left one. He thought he had noticed it before, during their fight in the rainforest, but it was more pronounced now. A soft purple light emanated from within the iris.

"No, sweetie," she went on, voice low. "You and I are not finished yet."

Foolish. She actually wanted a rematch. Well, it was her funeral.

"Back for more, eh?" Adon rolled his shoulders, loosening the muscles, getting excited despite himself. He wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to bring a proper end to the fight. "I have been asking around for you, you know," he told her, tone matter-of-fact, watching her reaction. "You're called 'The Spider', aren't you? You should have gone for a more impressive name."

If his remark fazed the woman, it didn't show. Instead, she tapped a finger to her chin, smile wide. "Aww, you've been asking around for me? Did you miss me that much?" She began lazily pacing back and forth, body swaying in a way that was more than a little distracting. "You know, come to think of it," she added, manner thoughtful, "asking around about my business isn't exactly the smartest thing to do. I might really have to punish you now."

Adon smirked in amusement at that notion. As if she could. "I hardly feel threatened by a woman who hides behind a fake name."

"You want to know my real name that badly? Fine." An unworried movement of her head. "It's Juri."

So that was her name. Although it sounded Asian, it wasn't Thai. It made him wonder where she was from, only for him to dismiss it a second later. It wouldn't change anything, wasn't going to keep him from defeating her. Even so, knowing her name had satisfied his lingering curiosity. He was mildly surprised it had still been there.

The woman, Juri, stopped pacing and turned to him. "Now that that's out of the way, how about we get this started?" she said, and narrowed her eyes. "I can't wait to see you squirm."

"I bet you can't. That whole 'vindictive wench' thing isn't far from the truth, I see." Adon adjusted the wrappings around his forearms. Her cruel demeanor didn't shock or bother him; he had known what sort of person she was when he had fought her earlier, with the warnings of the people he had spoken to later confirming it. He hadn't been afraid of her then and he wasn't afraid of her now.

Juri shrugged, not bothered by his harsh observation, either. "What can I say? I really like my job. Taking out a fool here, beating up a loser there…." She gave him a languid, crooked smile. There was definitely something with her left eye. The light within her iris had expanded to envelop the entire eyeball. It seemed to make a soft humming noise. "I especially like to crush the smug, loud ones."

Her gaze went over him again, slower this time. If Adon would have had any less self-confidence, her look would have made him uneasy. As it was, he cracked his knuckles, grin feral. "Enough of your useless threats already," he said. "Stop wasting my time and bring it –"

She was on him in an instant. Not expecting her speed – she hadn't been _that_ fast before, had she? – the red-haired Thai reacted late to her kick and it slammed into his ribs. He grunted, staggered, regained his balance.

All right, she had taken him off guard for a moment. He just needed to –

Her next kick, one to his stomach, had enough force to send him sprawling against one of the wooden benches, and then over it. He bounded back up immediately, avoiding an axe kick that smashed the bench in half.

Now he was certain of it: she was _definitely_ faster than before.

Juri laughed at his predicament. "Not such a big mouth now, huh?" she cooed, and indicated her left eye. "How does the 'God of Muay Thai' like my surprise?"

Even though Adon would have loved to, she didn't give him the chance to answer, aiming a punch at him straight away and forcing him to retreat to the middle of the chamber. And while he managed to deflect the jab, it became clear to the red-haired warrior that the balance had shifted.

It wasn't hard to guess where her newfound power had come from. Adon had known from their first battle that Juri could use her ki in the way that Sagat could; to use it to form energy bolts, among other things. Somehow, her left eye, or whatever it was, was enhancing her ki even more, boosting her existing abilities, making her faster, more agile. Stronger even.

Adon's own ki use wasn't that developed. Although he could manipulate it enough for his trademark Jaguar Kicks and a few other techniques, he never had the patience to cultivate it properly. Had never needed it, either. But with the woman's enhanced speed, enhanced flexibility and superior ki manipulation, he found himself, to his growing frustration, at a disadvantage.

The woman had studied his fighting style and now used that knowledge to keep him on his toes. She kept up the pressure and made it difficult for him to get in, never allowed him to gain momentum, halting his attempts with energy bolts that she released at the most unexpected moments.

More and more he found himself on the defensive. He blocked her fist, only to have her release the stored ki energy in her leg, causing a stinging impact across his hip. Adon recoiled with a curse, hopping back awkwardly. Juri swung her leg up in a smooth motion. There was a visible whirl of energy when she gathered more ki in her limb, and she darted forward to engage him again, intent on pressing her advantage.

The Thai's mind raced. Despite her enhanced skills, she still had a habit of fighting carelessly; it was something he could exploit. He simply had to adjust his strategy. Resisting the impulse to react aggressively, the Muay Thai boxer instead dodged, blocked and deflected her onslaught as he waited for an opening. It finally came when she overextended herself, her eagerness getting the better of her. He sidestepped her wild attack at the last second, felt the brush of air when she shot past him.

Juri realized what was happening and tried to turn, but this time Adon was faster. He spun, the fingers of his hands interlacing to put more force behind the blow as his elbow smashed into her left temple. The Taekwondo practitioner was knocked to the side and reached a hand out to the floor to keep from falling.

Adon lunged, throwing a straight punch at her. Somehow the woman avoided his attack, dodging with an abrupt burst of speed that brought her behind him.

Her foot rammed into the back of his knee. The Muay Thai warrior couldn't keep his leg from buckling, and while he managed to partly twist around, bringing his forearm up in time to block her follow-up attack, a sharp backfist, it was enough to send him off his feet and sprawling onto the mat.

He had gotten up on his hands and knees when a foot slamming into the small of his back drove him flat onto the floor. He tried to rise again, but one of her hands fisted in his hair and pressed his face into the mat, hard.

There came a sound from above him; Juri's giggle. "Having fun yet?"

Adon couldn't say that he was having a lot of that. On top of the new bruises he had sustained, his injured nose had begun to throb, and with the madwoman leaning on him, her entire weight on his back, his spine started to hurt too. And why was _he_ the first one lying on the ground again? This wasn't supposed to happen! It was impossible that some outlandish woman was giving him, the ruling champion, such a hard time!

He hissed something. With his face shoved into the mat, the words came out unintelligible.

Juri relieved some of the pressure on his head. "What was that?"

"You're a cheating, insane bitch," he rasped. "And you're heavy too."

She lifted his head and slammed it back onto the floor. "Now that wasn't very nice," she chided.

The mat, despite being quite solid, cushioned some of the force, so instead of breaking his nose a second time, it only sent stars exploding across Adon's vision. Nevertheless, he had gotten himself a valuable moment to gather his strength. Juri lifted his head again, presumably to smash it back onto the floor, but this time he wasn't going to let her get another one in.

The red-haired kickboxer wrenched himself around and drove his elbow backwards and into her side, connecting with a hit that had more to do with luck than anything else. It was at an awkward angle, but sufficient to make her wince and move off of him.

Both got to their feet, Adon slower than he had wanted, Juri holding her side, a grimace briefly crossing her pretty face.

Then she straightened and laughed breathlessly, clapping her hands. "That was great! For a moment there I thought I had you!"

She was honestly enjoying this. "This isn't a game!" Adon seethed.

"It is to me," Juri replied simply.

She sounded like she meant it. Not entirely unthinkable, seeing as she appeared to have the upper hand. If Adon had one thing to say for her, it was that she was persistent; the match wasn't boring, to say the least. This was turning out to be one of the toughest fights he'd had in a long time, he realized.

Consequently, he also realized that if he didn't step up his game, he could lose.

The revelation hit him like a ton of bricks, causing the Thai to freeze up, jarring his concentration. The distraction almost cost him when she came at him again. Her roundhouse nearly slipped under his defenses and he barely blocked the kick, stumbling back a couple of steps as he tried to regain his composure.

Juri noticed his struggle and let up for a second, lips in a pout. "You're not about to give up, are you? I'm not done yet."

Her mocking tone served to bring back some of Adon's obstinacy. He jerked his head, took his fighting stance. "This is nothing!" he spat. "I've had worse than this!"

The woman's face lit up. "I was hoping you'd say that!" she giggled and went at him, her enhanced speed bridging the distance between them in a split second. The two fighters clashed in a flurry of movement. One of her kicks landed on his midriff, one of his punches on her cheek, and both reeled back in pain.

Adon tensed, expecting another attack, but it never came. Instead, the woman faltered, clutching at her left eye, allowing the Muay Thai warrior much needed breathing space.

"No," she growled. He wasn't sure whether she was talking to him or something else. Juri's amusement had vanished. The brightness of her artificial eye had increased. The hum was louder as well, having changed to an off-key, whirring noise. She looked distracted.

Adon wasn't going to waste the opportunity. His initial shock had been replaced by full-blown anger. She wouldn't defeat him! He had fought too long, too hard, to get where he was now and he refused to let it all go to waste because of some insane woman with inferior martial arts! ! He rushed her with a snarl that didn't sound unlike that of the animal he had based his style on and pivoted mid-stride, bringing one leg around in a brutal hook kick.

Startled by his sudden ferocity, Juri's head jerked up, focusing on her opponent. She caught the blow on her body before she could move out of the way and staggered. The Thai didn't let her recover, following up the kick with a fist to her belly.

The woman grunted in pain and rounded on him. Her left eye was twitching oddly, but it didn't stop her from hurling herself at the red-haired fighter like a wild animal, aiming vicious punches and kicks herself as the fighting of both participants became progressively uncontrolled in a desperate attempt to win the struggle for dominance.

They were on equal footing for a moment until one of Juri's attacks – an unexpected contortion of her body not unlike a pinwheel – broke through Adon's defenses, launched him in the air and sent him crashing back onto the mat.

Dazed, he scrambled to his feet – he wasn't losing! He couldn't lose! – and saw the Taekwondo practitioner dashing at him, left leg snapping around for a kick. The muscles in the Thai fighter's own legs flexed. Fueled entirely by rage and adrenaline, he pushed away from the floor and propelled himself forward and up. The Rising Jaguar hit Juri squarely on the chin, one knee ramming upward, followed by another one.

There was a small flash from within the black-haired woman's left eye, and a faint breaking sound, like a twig snapping.

The move hadn't been as strong as Adon had wished it to be; it had dropped Juri to the floor, but hadn't knocked her out. She climbed back to her feet, not about to give up, and took a step forward, fists balled. Suddenly she stopped. Blinked, once, twice. A tiny, pained sound escaped her lips and her hand flew up, clutching her left eye again.

Having difficulty catching his breath after that last bout, Adon stood slightly hunched over, staring at her, uncomprehending. "Oh, come on!" he croaked. "I didn't hit you _that_ hard!"

She didn't reply, sank to her knees instead, expression twisted in agony. The sound from her eye had turned to a high-pitched whine. It didn't quite drown out her whimpers when they started.

The red-haired fighter wiped sweat from his brow and tilted his head suspiciously, wondering if it was some sort of sick joke. An attempt to catch him off guard? An excuse to back out of the fight?

No, this was different. Something was wrong.

It didn't look like she had fractured anything; Adon doubted the strength behind the Rising Jaguar had been enough to break her jaw. He frowned. Sure, he had meant to hurt her – they were in a battle, after all – but the pain she was in now….it seemed to have little to do with broken bones and appeared to originate from somewhere else entirely. Her hands grabbed her head as if she needed them to hold it together somehow.

The Thai kickboxer's anger dissipated. What the hell was he supposed to do with something like this? He exhaled, ran a hand through his hair, sensed an unfamiliar, unwelcome feeling creeping up on him. He felt stunned. Uncertain.

Adon despised the feeling, hated it. It reminded him too much of the moment when he had watched the s_horyuken_ connect with Sagat's chest, watched it shatter his hopes of seeing his fighting style retain its deserved place on the throne.

The red-haired warrior looked down at the woman sitting on the floor, and was for one of the very few times in his life at a loss of what to do.


	5. Chapter 5

_This chapter contains minor adult themes. It's not much and I'm not sure if it's necessary, but hereby nevertheless a warning, just to be on the safe side._

* * *

When pain exploded in her head, it did so with a white-hot, screeching noise.

Something had cracked inside the Feng Shui Engine; Juri had felt it more than heard it. Even though the impact from Adon's double knee strike to the chin finally pushed the device past the breaking point, Juri had already known something was wrong with it. She had felt it by the aching protest the Engine gave when she fully activated it. Had felt it when a sudden stab of pain had caused her to falter during the battle. Had felt it when the pain had increased to a throbbing, burning feeling that radiated out from the device and into her skull, somewhat like a headache, but not quite, and refusing to go away.

Delicate as it was, it wasn't unlikely that the Engine had sustained damage in the previous fight. In hindsight, she probably should have gotten it examined by S.I.N.'s scientists before getting into a new battle. In hindsight, she probably should have been more careful and have drawn less on it than she had in the second fight.

Juri had done none of this and paid the price for it. All the exertion had strained the Engine, and when it at last malfunctioned, it did so badly; it backfired and somehow turned her stored ki against her.

Juri could handle pain; she had gone through the convalescence after the attack by Shadaloo that had cost her her parents and her left eye without flinching. She had endured the implantation of the Feng Shui Engine into her eye socket by the scientists of S.I.N without crying out a single time.

But this was worse than she had experienced before. Juri realized she was on her knees, clutching her head and covering her eyes, feeling like they were going to burst from her skull. The Engine was rattling in a high-pitched whine that set her teeth on edge. Blinding agony seared its way through her head, sending shards of color exploding across her vision. She tried to deactivate the device, but the stupid thing, out of control, refused to wind down and kept pouring its energy into her.

She had no idea how long she had been sitting, weathering the agony. Through the pain she dimly wondered what her opponent was doing. Some distance from her, she could hear the sound of pacing, could hear him mutter to himself. Cleary he had no idea what was going on, but she knew it wouldn't be long before he recovered from his confusion and would take action.

It wasn't hard to figure out what would happen next: either he was going to use the opportunity now that she was temporarily helpless to beat her to a pulp or kill her, or he was going to toss her out on her ass. Both scenarios were perfectly understandable; it was what Juri herself would do if she had someone at her mercy like this – going by the first scenario, anyway. And although the Thai warrior didn't strike her as a cold-blooded murderer, she doubted he was above taking advantage of a crippled opponent.

After a couple of minutes that to the Korean's pain-filled mind seemed to go on for eternity, Adon made up his mind: the steps abruptly changed direction and she could hear him approach her, his bandaged feet padding across the mat, dampening the footfalls.

Juri bared her teeth in instinctive reaction and tensed, waiting for the impact of fists and feet, waiting for the moment he would grab hold of her to forcibly eject her from the gym. Despite the agony coursing through her skull, she had her curses and insults ready and was willing to put up a fight, would punch and kick and bite if he so much as attempted anything. Even if it was a feeble effort on her part, she would be damned if she was going to make it easy for him.

Instead there was a rustle as the Thai kickboxer squatted in front of her. His action startled the Korean woman, and therefore she was slow in reacting when she felt his rough fingers curl around her wrists, trying to pull her hands away from her face.

"Let me see that," he ordered.

"Go screw yourself," she told him. Or tried to. Another stab of agony made the words come out a groan.

The distraction allowed Adon to pry her fingers away. With her vision blurry and dancing with bright spots – even the low light in the room sent new waves of pain surging through her head – it took Juri a second to make out his features. Finally, his face swam into focus.

He had definitely seen better days. She had managed to split his lip again and even though she hadn't broken his nose, its bluish tint and the blood caking under the nostrils told her she had gotten close. His breathing came out slightly labored and his red hair, dark in spots with perspiration, was wilder, courtesy of her grabbing hold of it. If Juri hadn't been hurting so much, she would have smiled. What came out was a pained grimace, instead.

Adon studied her face. "I don't see what all the fuss is about," he commented. "There's nothing that looks like…." His voice trailed off and his eyebrows drew together.

Alarm found its way through the headache. "What?" she rasped. "What is it?"

As soon as the words left her mouth she knew what must have caught his attention; a thin fissure ran vertically through her left eyeball. The Engine took that moment to switch over to static before cutting to blackness completely, leaving the left side of her vision dark. She hoped that meant it had shut off fully. No such luck; the pain diminished only a little.

Adon was still regarding her, his expression curious and for once not interspersed with the usual hostility. "There's a crack in your left eye," he said, as if she needed another confirmation. "Why is that?"

"Because it's artificial and you broke it, you asshole," Juri ground out.

The Thai stiffened, then brusquely let go of her. "Oh, that's too bad," he said, not sounding like he meant it. His demeanor had changed; if he had any sympathy for her plight before this, it was gone now. "Seems like you have a bit of a problem then, don't you?" he went on, smile thin. "Perhaps you could ask your men to pick you up."

Juri's anger flared. It wasn't even the insinuation that she might need help; it was the superior, smug way he said it that got on her nerves. As if feeling like this – as if having the Engine ruined like this! – wasn't bad enough already!

"What, you think I'm that desperate or something?" she snarled. "I don't need them! Why don't you piss off and go take your head out of your ass?!" She wanted to punch his nose, scratch his eyes, but in her weakened state had to settle for less. With a furious gesture she shoved against his chest, cringing at the spike of agony that the motion sent through her skull.

Adon had not expected her push and he lost his balance, nearly falling over backwards. He reached out a hand to steady himself. He was still smiling when he looked back at her, but his eyes had narrowed to slits.

"Too full of yourself to accept help, eh?" he asked, and chuckled. It wasn't friendly. "You must feel proud, having such an overblown sense of self-importance."

Somewhere, Juri found the strength to smirk at him. "Guess it takes one to know one."

He didn't like that; his face darkened and he rose, stepping away from her.

There was no way in hell she was going to remain sitting when he was standing. Juri stood as well.

And then quickly had to sit down again when a wave of dizziness spun the chamber around nauseatingly. A fresh stab of pain made her gasp, though she tried to choke back the sound. She brought up one hand to her head in the vain hope that cradling her left eye socket would somehow diminish the pain.

Adon looked down at her, expression unreadable. Then he turned and started across the mat towards a doorway at the back of the main hall.

Recovering her senses a little, Juri stared after him. Was he going to leave? Just like that? The Korean woman clenched the fingers of her free hand into the mat, cursing her body for refusing to cooperate, cursing the Engine for failing her at this time, and cursing the red-haired Thai for seeing her like this, for turning his back on her like she was no danger to him at all. She couldn't let it end like this!

"Where do you think you're going?" she screamed at him. "We're not done yet!"

He stopped at the doorway and his eyes flicked towards her. "No? How exactly did you intend to continue fighting?"

"I can take you!"

"In your current condition? Don't be ridiculous." She saw a glimmer of incredulity in his gaze, mixed with anger. "This battle is over."

"So you're going to kick me out, is that it?" Juri snarled. "Call the cops?"

"What are you talking about?"

She knew it probably wasn't smart to continue, to give him any ideas, but she was hurt, felt wretched and couldn't stop herself. "In case you haven't figured it out, I work for a criminal organization! Why don't you just call the cops and be done with it?!"

The Muay Thai fighter stared at her for a while longer. Then he jerked his head in an impatient gesture. "I don't care about any of that," he said flatly, and disappeared through the doorway. She could hear his footsteps recede down the hallway.

His reply gave the Korean woman pause, made her wonder if he meant that. She had expected him to condemn her, had actually tried to provoke him into doing so, but he hadn't. He was prejudiced, yes, especially where the skills of others were concerned, but apparently not about her background. It was not something she had anticipated.

Not that it made her like him, of course, or made her situation any easier. Juri calmed down with effort. It had been a long time since she had felt this riled up. She was frustrated, angry, and not just because of the Feng Shui Engine letting her down or the infuriating, impossible bastard she had been fighting. Mostly it was because of the battle and how it had ended without a clear winner. _Again_.

Juri gritted her teeth. And it had gone so well too! She had been so close to defeating him! She had almost done so the first time, after all, and on her own power. Even without the device installed in place of her left eye, she was an incredible fighter. She had practiced Taekwondo from a young age, had been considered a prodigy. She had beaten more than her fair share of opponents without relying on the Engine in the past, let alone when she did use it.

And yet, only now did the black-haired woman realize how much she had gotten used to the power the device gave her and, more importantly, the ability to see with both eyes again. Although the Engine had malfunctioned before, it had never done so this badly. It had never _broken_ before. It troubled her more than she was willing to let on. She felt naked without it.

It was a disconcerting feeling and Juri pushed it away before it could take root. She had always relied on herself and that wasn't going to change. She relaxed a little and at last felt the Feng Shui Engine deactivate. The pain gradually began to fade. Or at least it started to lessen – now it was possible for her to look around again without having the feeling that her head was going to fall off.

The Korean waited a couple of seconds, then took a deep breath and tried to stand again. She did so carefully, bracing for another wave of dizziness and pain. Even though it came, it was less intense than before. Wobbling, she started her slow walk to one of the benches, wincing as every step made her head throb. She had no idea where Adon had gone – he would have left by now, probably – but Juri was glad he wasn't here to see her shuffling around like a drunkard.

Arriving at the bench, she pushed it entirely against the wall and slumped down. She leaned her back and head against the plaster and closed her eyes. Just a couple of minutes to gather her strength, then she had to think about getting back to the S.I.N. base somehow.

Juri grimaced at the thought of returning to headquarters. Seth was never going to let her live it down. That was if he wasn't too busy being furious with her for breaking the Feng Shui Engine. She wondered how long it would take to fix the device….

She opened her eyes, surprised, when she heard footsteps. Evidently Adon hadn't left after all, because he came walking back into the room, a white towel slung over one shoulder. He spotted her sitting on the bench and, shaking his head as though marveling at his own behavior, went over to her, pulling the towel from his shoulder.

Juri watched him approach. Had he gotten the towel for her? Perhaps there was something gallant about him after all...

"Here." He tossed her the cloth. Not yet used to her lack of depth-perception, Juri failed to catch it and it landed on the floor at her feet.

….Or perhaps not. She swallowed angrily, wondering whether he had done it deliberately. No, the black-haired woman decided after a moment's reflection. He was just that much of a tactless douchebag.

"Silly me," she remarked. "For a second there I thought you were a half-decent person."

"I suppose that means you're wrong then, doesn't it?" Adon observed. Nonetheless, he lingered in an uncharacteristic way and almost seemed to hesitate before moving to the bench she was on.

It was only then that the Korean noticed that there was a limp in his step instead of the usual stalking gait, and when he sat down at the edge of the bench, as though getting too close would cause her to bite, he did so slowly while suppressing a wince. Like his face, his body was battered and already bruising over.

She had worked him over quite thoroughly. Juri sighed theatrically to herself. Well, she always did have a tendency to get carried away when playing.

The Thai fidgeted around for a bit. "So," he said, after an awkward pause and without looking at her, "are you about ready to leave yet?"

"Aren't you just the freaking social type?" Juri said sarcastically. She contemplated leaving the towel lying on the floor just to spite him, but had to admit the soft texture was tempting. She picked it up.

It was damp and cool and she realized the red-haired warrior had taken the trouble to moisturize it for her. She pressed it against her forehead, the soft coldness dulling the pain in her head a little. Then she patted her face down, making certain to be careful around her left eye. When she removed the towel, there was a red smear of blood across the fabric.

Juri reckoned she didn't appear much better than Adon did; now that the blinding headache had started to recede, other, smaller injuries were clamoring for attention. Her jaw had begun to sting and her body was aching. She looked down at herself. Discolorations were already forming on her arms. Some of the straps of her breastplate had apparently loosened; the front was sagging a little to one side.

She adjusted it absently. The Taekwondo practitioner had never been one to feel shame. She knew she had a good figure; why not flaunt it?

She glanced up, noticed Adon looking at her. Or more specifically, he had followed the motion of her hands and was now looking at a part of her that was decidedly lower than her head.

"Like what you see?" she asked him.

His gaze flew up so fast she almost missed the movement. He caught her eye and then quickly glanced away.

"Don't flatter yourself," he growled. "You're not much to look at."

His almost defensive tone belied those words, however, and the flush creeping up his cheeks was unmistakable.

Juri smirked. Apparently the big, bad jaguar could get flustered about _something._ "Really?" she purred, sliding closer. "You could have fooled me. I'm definitely getting mixed signals here."

"Then your so-called 'signals' are completely off." To his credit, he didn't pull away. There was still a blush on his cheeks and he wasn't looking at her, but he was regaining his composure with admirable speed. "Why would I possibly have an interest in a psychotic woman who wanted to kill me?"

"You're _still_ sore about our little rough-and-tumble just now?" Juri waved a hand nonchalantly. "Get over it already."

Now he did turn his head to glare at her. "You wanted to _kill_ me!" he snapped, seemingly more offended at her dismissal than the actual killing part.

Juri shrugged. "Only the first time. And let's just call that a little misunderstanding, okay? If I had known you were such a riot, I wouldn't have."

She wasn't sure whether it was her callousness about killing him that finally set him off, or the fact that she was referring to him as a 'riot.' Juri suspected the latter. Either way, any civility he had before – although that had been the bare minimum at best – evaporated completely. He whipped around on the bench to confront her, jaw and fists clenched.

"You really think you're all that great, don't you?" he snarled. "If it wasn't for that eye of yours, you wouldn't stand a chance!"

Juri felt her own anger returning."What the hell are you talking about?" she asked heatedly. He had almost lost and was still going on about how great he was? What did it take to beat some sense into this bastard? "Reality check: I was beating you just fine without it before!"

His sneer was back. The one she desperately wanted to punch off his face. "Clearly there's something wrong with you besides that eye. I am the God of Muay Thai…."

"Ugh! Not this again….Talk about a broken record…."

"…..and it was mere luck that got you as far as you did," he went on doggedly. "I was _winning_!"

"Shit, you're clueless!" Juri wrung the towel's fabric between her fingers. "Do you have some kind of selective memory or something? Or are you just in the habit of ignoring what you don't like until it goes away?"

Adon laughed at her. "If I knew for a fact that would work, do you think I would still be talking to you?"

"Yeah? How about you try and ignore this?" Her blood up, the black-haired woman reacted in the way that came the most natural to her: with violence. She flung the towel in his ugly mug, abruptly cutting off his laughter, and threw a punch at him as soon as he snatched it away, a sharp hook with her right fist, aiming for his nose with the intention of breaking it again.

Adon caught her wrist before she connected and pulled her arm away and to the side, tipping her forward until their noses were only inches apart. His eyes were brown, she noticed for the first time. Not a muddy color, more a clear hazel and bright with tenacity. Like before, he was refusing to back down.

Like before, so was Juri. They strained against each other, both weakened and both trying, once more, to gain the upper hand in their latest struggle. Juri wrestled to get her fist closer to his head. It didn't move an inch. Muscles straining, the red-haired warrior kept her at bay, although with effort.

"Told you you couldn't win," he said. His voice was breathless. She watched his thin lips twitch and draw into a grin that was more a grimace than an actual smile. "You don't stand a chance against –"

The Korean's next action came on a whim, an unconventional method to shut him up and turn the tide in her favor: she lunged forward and kissed him, interrupting his rambling and eliciting a startled "mmph!?" from the Thai kickboxer.

In his astonishment he released her and Juri grabbed hold of both sides of his face with her hands, locking her lips to his, deepening the kiss. Her tongue darted into his mouth, exploring, tasting. She pressed herself against him, pushing him against the wall.

For a second Adon remained frozen, not even resisting. Then he moved and Juri half-expected him to throw her off. Instead, she found he was reacting to her, returning the kiss hungrily, forcefully. Juri pressed closer, felt the heat generating from his lean, chiseled frame, felt his bandaged hands grasp her slender waist, clenching her sides almost painfully. To the Korean woman, it wasn't an unpleasant sensation.

Finally, they drew back, panting slightly. Adon stared at her, dazed, not entirely sure of what exactly had happened.

At least she had succeeded in shutting him up. Juri licked her lips. "That wasn't bad at all," she whispered. "Makes me feel almost sorry for this."

The Thai blinked in incomprehension. She saw the first glint of suspicion returning, saw him tense and straighten. "For wha –?"

Juri tightened her hold on one side of his head and smashed his temple into the wall.

The Korean had poured all her remaining strength into the blow and it was enough; his eyes rolled up and he limply crumpled from the bench and onto the floor.

"Told you you couldn't win," she said, turning his earlier words back on him.

She slid down next to Adon's prone form and regarded him, watching his chest slowly rise and fall. Unconsciousness had smoothed his features, erasing the harsh lines of resentment and disdain. It made him look better. Juri reached out and ran a hand through the red hair, trailed a finger down one prominent cheekbone. It would be so easy to kill him now. A quick snap of the spine or the neck, and it would all be over.

But what was the fun in that? What she had told him had been the truth: she honestly didn't want to kill him. The man was utterly and completely infuriating, but he was also stubborn and determined, and recent weeks had been the most fun she had in a long time. It would be much more entertaining to let him live.

Juri lingered for a moment longer, then pulled back. She really should head back for headquarters. Get the Feng Shui Engine examined. Report to Seth. Or something like that. She stood, stifling a groan, and started her limping walk to the door of the gym, and then outside.

She drew attention as she staggered through the streets of Bangkok that night, one hand over her left eye, laughing softly to herself. Despite everything that had happened, despite the ache in her body and her broken Feng Shui Engine, the Korean Taekwondo expert found herself grinning. All in all, she had something to look forward to. She wondered what Adon would do when he woke up. He wasn't going to let this slide; she was certain of it. Juri couldn't wait.

She had never tried taming a jaguar before.


	6. Chapter 6

The first thing Adon became aware of when he came to was that he was lying next to a bench on the floor, the tiles cold against his back.

The second thing he became aware of was a pounding ache in his temple. He stirred and brought his hand up to touch the side of his head, feeling the beginnings of what promised to become a massive lump. He blinked as he tried to focus on the ceiling. It took a moment for his thoughts to regain a semblance of coherence and to figure out what exactly had happened.

Then the pieces clicked together and he sat bolt upright.

Which turned out to be a bad idea.

A wave of nausea made him wince and lean on the bench for support. With it came the ache of numerous bruises and cuts that served as a reminder that the fight hadn't exactly ended the way he had wanted. He was alone, he realized; the woman was gone. Not that he had expected her to stay after what had happened.

When the nausea passed he straightened, as far as that was possible with taut muscles. The pain in his head and body was still there, but a myriad of emotion rapidly replaced the physical discomfort.

He had – no. No, he hadn't lost. It had been a cheap shot. There had been no way he could have anticipating the….tactic she would employ to eventually get one in over him. How could he have guessed she was going to use her body against him in _that_ way? It hadn't been fair, and thus there was absolutely no reason why it should trouble him in the slightest.

But it felt too much like a loss. He couldn't recall what the last time was that he had been forced to fight this hard or gotten hurt this badly. All thanks to some maniacal woman whom he shouldn't have had difficulty with defeating in the first place.

Shaking off the nagging feeling of what could almost be considered doubt, Adon rubbed his temple again. Figuring that the headache wouldn't let up anytime soon, he gritted his teeth.

That's what you got for offering someone even a sliver of kindness. Why he had bothered to help her by handing her a towel was beyond him. Clearly it wasn't because he felt guilty, because guilt was a worthless emotion and it hadn't been his fault she had broken her stupid eye, anyway!...Right? It wasn't like he had felt bad for her!….Right?

Adon swallowed, tasted something coppery. He touched his lower lip, then looked at his red fingertips, realized it had started bleeding again. It must have happened when they had been –

Cheeks burning at the memory, the red-haired Thai scrambled to his feet. What the hell had been wrong with him? When she had flung herself at him and kissed him, it had been his intention to shove her away. At first, at least. But the sensation of her lips on his...her tongue...her _body_...It had been far more enjoyable than it had any right to be. And he had simply let her. Had gone along with her! _Stupid!_ How could he have fallen for her tricks that easily?!

He kicked at the bench. It flipped over and he stubbed his toe and it hurt, but this latest pain helped to clear his mind. Well, he might have made one tiny mistake in letting his guard down, but he wasn't going to let her get away with this! He would show her that no one – _no one!_ – could mess with the Emperor of Muay Thai!

Before he knew what he was doing, Adon was dashing – more a sort of loping stagger – out of the gym and glancing around, searching for a sign, any sign, of the woman and where she had gone. The moon, barely visible over the rooftops, hadn't moved much from its earlier position; he hadn't been out long. Perhaps there was still a chance for him to find her.

He skidded to a halt next to the first person he saw.

"Have you seen a black-haired woman with purple eyes and rings in her hair?" he barked.

The person, an older man, cringed at the sight of the beaten and bloody figure yelling at him and was quick to reply that he hadn't seen such a person, no sir. Adon paid the man no further mind. He was moving again, dodging pedestrians, cars and tuk-tuks while peering down side streets and into alleys, hoping to catch a glimpse of purple.

The search proved fruitless, of course. The woman could have gone anywhere. Finding her in the busy streets was like searching for a needle in a haystack. Her trail had gone cold.

Eventually Adon went home, aching and flushed. He slammed the door to his Spartan living room too loudly, slammed the door to his bathroom too loudly as well, and took a shower. A cold one. Afterwards he didn't bother going to bed; sleep wasn't going to happen as worked up as he was.

The next day the Thai skipped his early morning exercises. With his body sore and with his thoughts continuously going over the encounter last evening, he doubted it would do any good, anyway. He settled for breakfast, something he did at one of the many food stalls cluttering the district he lived in, and then, having thought of something, headed over to the gym.

He still knew very little of Juri besides that she worked for a crime syndicate, which wasn't a lot to go by. Adon had spent the first part of the night pondering how he was going to find the elusive woman, until he remembered that he actually knew someone who had dealt with criminal organizations in the past. The red-haired kickboxer had subsequently spent the second part of the night in reluctant contemplation whether he wanted to consult this particular person, since the person in question happened to be the one he despised with a passion.

Even though Adon liked to tell Sagat to climb down from his mountain more often and while the bald warrior did make a habit of training there, Sagat didn't actually live on one. In fact, he made his home in a small village in the country. Adon wouldn't have minded if the bald Thai had stayed there for the remainder of his useless life, but evidently Sagat had decided to spend time in gyms to observe other martial artists in his path to enlightenment. Although active in the Muay Thai circuit, the one-eyed warrior had never shown an interest in trying to regain the title of Emperor, which, as far as Adon was concerned, made him even more of a weakling.

Nevertheless, after thinking long and hard the red-haired Thai had decided to speak to his former mentor. As far as Adon knew, Sagat was the only one who was even remotely familiar with crime syndicates of any kind, and thus possibly give him insight into Juri's whereabouts. Asking the bald fighter about anything would be out of the question under any other circumstances, but Adon's pride simply refused to let her get away with the incident of last night.

While early, the gym was already filled with trainees and practitioners, most of whom hushed up and stopped what they were doing when the red-haired fighter stepped into the main hall. He ignored them and looked around. His hunch had proven correct; he saw Sagat at the back of the chamber, his deep voice resounding over the noise of exercising as he instructed two of the students.

As he made his way to the spot where the older kickboxer stood, Adon absently noticed that someone had gone through the trouble of removing the broken bench and set the other one upright. No one mentioned the shattered and fallen over furniture, however, even though most of them must have had an idea who had been responsible, especially after seeing the condition he was in.

"I want to speak to you," he told Sagat without preamble when he walked up to the bald warrior and the two students.

Sagat raised an eyebrow. The two students glanced from him to Adon and back again, not entirely sure what to do. Sagat nodded at them and the two moved away and out of earshot, leaving an empty space around the Muay Thai master and his former pupil.

If the bald warrior was surprised at the arrival, he didn't show it. He gave the red-haired Thai his undivided, grave attention.

"Getting injured like this twice in as many weeks is an unexpected turn of events, even for you," he said by way of greeting. "What was it this time?"

"You can't guess?" Adon shook his head moodily. Thinking back to what had happened last night felt humiliating. "Forget it," he muttered. "I'm not here for that."

"Then why _are_ you here?"

The red-haired kickboxer glanced around instinctively. No one within hearing distance. People had resumed their activities and were very busy pretending not to be curious about what was going on. Although Adon didn't care if they happened to overhear, he did prefer privacy.

"I want you to tell me about Shadaloo," he said.

Not having anticipated this particular subject matter, Sagat blinked at him, startled. However, the astonishment in his one good eye was rapidly replaced by a more guarded look. "Why do you want to know?" he asked.

"Because I'm interested. What else would it be?" Adon flashed a thin smile. "What do you care, anyway? I told you before that my undertakings are none of your business. Just tell me about this Shadaloo and I'll leave you to...," an offhand gesture, "well, to whatever it is that you do."

The bald warrior seemed unruffled by the red-haired Thai's rude manners. "If your undertakings are none of my business, then perhaps my undertakings are none of yours," he answered simply. "Have you thought of that?"

The younger man's smile vanished. "What?"

"You heard me." Sagat tightened the wrappings around his arms. "Asking me for information is one thing. Demanding it in such a fashion is something else entirely." He turned to leave. "I have better things to do than listen to your insolence."

Adon glared at him. Leave it to Sagat to pick this moment to grow a backbone. It was second nature to the red-haired Thai to get his way by verbally mistreating the people around him, but this time, however, he realized he wouldn't get an answer out of his old mentor that easily. Well, he supposed he should appreciate the man somewhat for standing up to him, even if he was still a weakling at heart.

"Wait," he said and Sagat turned back to him, face impassive but ready to listen.

Adon ran a hand through his hair. If he wanted information from Sagat he was going to have to restrain himself. As disagreeable as that sounded, he wanted to find the woman more.

He continued speaking, this time choosing his words more carefully, albeit grudgingly, and forced his voice to sound less contemptuous. "I won't tell you why I need the information, but I would like to hear what you know nonetheless. Can you tell me about Shadaloo?"

Sagat folded his arms in front of his chest and for a second Adon thought he was going to refuse. Then the bald warrior grunted. "There isn't much to say," he said. "Shadaloo is an international crime syndicate. It deals in weapons, drugs and murder, among other things." He studied the younger man. "But you know this."

Adon did. Most people had heard from the notorious organization one way or another. Still, the red-haired warrior had hoped for more information. Of course, this being Sagat, he shouldn't have been expecting _too_ much.

"And S.I.N.?" he asked. "What of that?" One criminal organization was the same as any other, as far as the red-haired Thai was concerned.

"S.I.N.?" Now it was the bald warrior's turn to look around the gym. Then he glanced back at Adon and his gaze hardened. "Where did you hear that name?"

Adon shifted his weight, for once actually thinking things over before opening his mouth. Although he didn't feel comfortable lying, he figured some caution was in order. Sagat was starting to show a little too much interest.

After taking a second to weigh his options, he settled for what he hoped was a noncommittal shrug. "Does it matter?"

"It matters when you mean to delve in this sort of thing." There was a hint of rebuke in the one-eyed fighter's voice. "I don't know what you aim to do, but you should realize that it is unwise dealing with such organizations."

"Right, because no one has ever told me this before." Adon let out an exasperated sigh. "Just tell me what I want to know!"

Sagat regarded him evenly.

The red-haired Thai swallowed. "Fine," he groused. He took a deep breath. "Could you perhaps tell me more about this S.I.N. group?" he went on in a clipped tone. "I would appreciate it very much."

"Enough already. Don't strain yourself trying to act polite." Sagat shook his head in disgust. "If you must know, S.I.N. is Shadaloo's weapon division," he rumbled. "At least it was in the time I worked there. It developed and researched weapons and ran a diversity of classified experiments."

He fell silent. Adon eyed him. After a pause he asked: "That's it?"

The bald warrior shrugged. "Were you expecting more?"

"Something useful would have been nice." The red-haired man frowned.

"I haven't worked for them for a long time, in case you had forgotten." Sagat's voice had become, if possible, more disapproving. "I have cut my ties with them completely, and even when I worked for them there was very little I wished to know about their exploits. They used to have a base here, but I can't tell you much more."

Adon mouth twisted in a sneer. Why didn't that surprise him? He had half a mind asking Sagat whether he had heard of Juri, then thought better of it. He didn't want the bald warrior prying. Besides, having nothing to do with Shadaloo anymore, he doubted the man was even familiar with her.

Labeling the conversation with his former mentor as a waste of his time, the red-haired fighter begun turning away when the last part of Sagat's sentence snagged at his thoughts. He swiveled back.

"Wait…they had a base here? Where?"

Sagat gave him a dark look, but replied nevertheless. "In the old ruins in the rainforest to the west of here. It became abandoned when Shadaloo pulled out after their leader was defeated in the last tournament he hosted."

"Is that so?" the red-haired Thai mused, rubbing his chin.

He knew of the place. The ruins, an expansive temple complex with as main attraction a massive statue of the Buddha, had been abandoned for years after the monks that had lived there had resettled closer to civilization. Now it was in a severe state of disrepair. Lacking the funds to mend the complex, the authorities had deemed it a pointless endeavor and had decided to leave the place to the elements. With the buildings crumbling, the ruins were considered a safety hazard and were no longer open to the public.

That was how the official statement to the general populace went, at least. Adon reckoned it could just as easily have been a cover story to allow a shady organization to have its way without interference. Now that he thought back to it, he recalled that the S.I.N. men he had encountered, and later that infuriating Juri woman, had come from that general direction. That wasn't a coincidence.

He smiled. Nothing wrong with taking a look around at those ruins, was there? At least now he had a lead. Even if it was only a first step in getting back at that insane woman, he was willing to take it.

Set on this newest course of action, he had already started away when Sagat addressing him made him look around.

"What are you intending to do?" the bald warrior asked, as if honestly expecting an answer.

Adon's lips drew up in a grin. "Hunting," he said only.

Sagat didn't reply to that, but the red-haired kickboxer could feel the man's one-eyed gaze boring into his back up until the moment he stepped out of the gym.

Back outside he immediately set for the jungle, retracing his steps to the place where he had first come across the S.I.N. agents: the clearing deep into the rainforest, the one he often went to when needing to get away from the noise and bustle of the city.

It took him a while to get there, and when he did, there were two things that caught his attention.

The measuring equipment from his first encounter with the S.I.N. agents had been removed and there were two men in the clearing.

"…..should be around here somewhere," one of them was saying just as the Thai stepped into the open space. "We'd better move carefully. The boss told us to keep a low profile and only gather data until –"

They stopped speaking when they spotted him. They were big men, heavily built and dressed in uniform. More S.I.N. agents, presumably, although he remembered that the first lot had been wearing a different colored outfit than these two. The sun glinted off a golden insignia on their breasts; a sort of skull-like symbol, difficult to make out exactly.

Perhaps these two were from another division. Either way, Adon couldn't care less besides the fact that having them here could make things more complicated. He didn't want them at his back when he headed for the ruins.

He was just thinking on how to proceed when one of the men called out to him.

"What are you staring at? You here looking for something?"

When he didn't immediately respond they came over, moving with a swaggering step that told the Thai they had a small amount of power and loved to exercise it.

"You speaking English?" the man asked, in the assumption that talking loudly and slowly would somehow make him more understandable.

"Much better than you, evidently," Adon said.

The man obviously wasn't used to being addressed in this manner: he flushed a beet red, stepped forward and poked his finger into the Thai's chest.

"Now you listen to me, you ugly freak! Do you know who you're dealing with? If you mess with us, you mess with –"

Clearly things had a way of sorting themselves out.

It was over in seconds and he wasn't even in good shape. Adon stepped over the two unconscious figures, shaking his head while pushing aside a strong sense of déjà-vu. The woman should really invest in better manpower.

Nevertheless, despite the ease with which he had dispatched the men, he proceeded with caution. There could be more of the fools roaming around. He tried to recall where Juri had appeared from with regard to the clearing. West, he remembered, which was indeed the same direction the ruins were located.

After about fifteen minutes of traveling he came upon the first couple of tracks and cut branches; signs of human intrusion where there should be none. The red-haired Thai smiled in satisfaction. He hadn't encountered more S.I.N. agents, but he nevertheless moved away from the tracks and deeper into the undergrowth in case someone came past, keeping the tracks parallel to him. No need to telegraph his presence if he could avoid it.

It wasn't long before the Thai came upon the ruins themselves; a widespread area holding the overgrown and dilapidated remnants of temple buildings and living quarters_. _Even though the structures had been partially worn away by time and the weather, there was enough left of them to give an idea of the majesty they once must have possessed. The immense sculpture of the Buddha at the farthest edge of the complex, lying on its side with one hand propped under its head, drew immediate attention; there was no denying its splendour. It was in good condition despite all the years.

Adon remained within the tree line, regarding the vast expanse of rock-strewn ground and the statue for a while. There didn't seem to be anything suspicious, nothing that gave away the presence of some kind of hideout. Then again, he figured it would sort of defeat the purpose of having a secret base when it was lying out in the open for everyone to stumble upon.

He stepped back, deeper into the foliage, and started walking, moving silently amidst the trees and shrubbery. He could see nothing of interest from his current vantage point, so he might as well circle around and take a look on the other side. Perhaps that would yield a hint of S.I.N.'s existence.

And if he encountered the madwoman in the meantime….so much the better.

* * *

Juri reached up and touched the eye patch covering her left eye for the third time as she stood in Seth's throne room, listening to the synthetic human. It had been a long time since she had worn one and it took getting used to. The fabric pressing against her left eye socket felt odd, not to mention the strange sensation of being blind on the left side of her face.

She took a bite from her belated breakfast, a mango, and ran her tongue over her lips. That was another thing she had done more than once in the last hour, and it wasn't because of the taste of the fruit. More one to prefer spicy dishes, the fruit was a little too sweet for Juri's tastes.

No, it was more to recall the event of the previous evening; the lingering feeling of the Thai's lips onto hers, to be specific. Admittedly, the kiss had been meant to catch him off guard, and at that she had succeeded without a doubt. But in truth, the kiss itself, the fierceness, the intensity…it hadn't at all been unpleasant for her, either. The Thai had reacted better than she could have hoped. She was already imagining the fun she would have next time.

While the conclusion to last night's battle had turned out very well, the Korean couldn't say that the journey back to S.I.N. headquarters had been as pleasurable. As she had been walking through Bangkok, the pain in her head had gotten worse, and she had been forced to call headquarters to pick her up by jeep. From a telephone booth of all things, as she had never bothered to replace her broken communicator.

Seth had been waiting for her when she finally arrived at the base, standing in the hallway like he was her babysitter or something. His cold gaze had taken in her battered form and hadn't failed to see the cracked Feng Shui Engine.

"What happened to the Engine?" he had asked. Nothing about how she was doing, oh no. Seth was all callous professionalism. He had sounded angry, but had overall been more curious as to what had happened.

Juri had waved dismissively, wincing at the pain it brought. "Not much. Found your guy. Got in a fight. Stuff happened."

He tilted his head, expression flat and neutral. "I find it hard to believe you had so much trouble defeating your target. According to my intel the man was a simple weapon smuggler."

Juri pursed her lips, finding that she really didn't want Seth to know about her escapade with the red-haired fighter. It was her little secret, her fun, and Seth had no business butting in.

"Maybe your intel was off," she said.

He hadn't believed her. The synthetic human's eyebrow ridges drew together in a frown. "I don't think that's it," he said. "You were gone a long time, too long for an ordinary fight, and the Feng Shui Engine doesn't break that easily."

He walked over and leaned forward, peering intently at her. Juri scowled at having his metallic face so close, but didn't pull away.

"What happened to the Engine?" he repeated.

The Korean wrinkled her nose and spread her arms in an exaggerated gesture. "What's with the complaining?" she pouted. "I took out the target, didn't I? He put up a fight and the Engine broke! I can't help it that this thing gave out on me halfway! Can we just fix it already?"

He had studied her carefully. Frankly, pulling off something like this would have been much harder, if not downright impossible, if Seth had been human. As it was, he had a difficult time gauging whether she was being sincere or not.

In the end the synthetic man had decided to let it pass. "As you wish," he said, leaning back and clasping his hands behind his back in a decidedly Bison-like fashion. "I want to see you for a briefing next morning," he told her. "And from now on I expect a two weekly check-up on the Engine, understood? Head over to the laboratory to have them take a look at your eye."

Feeling like she had scored a small victory, Juri had obliged. She would have loved to go to her quarters and sleep, but fixing the Engine had been more important. She spent the biggest part of the night in the lab as scientists busied themselves with repairing the device.

While they managed to fix the Engine, they warned her it was still sensitive and recommended her to use the device with care in the days ahead. Taking their advice to heart for once, Juri had procured an eye patch to keep the Engine from overexposure and give it time to mend. Thankfully the pain had diminished to a mild throbbing at the back of her skull by then. She had also acquired a cellphone.

And so, after showering and snatching a few hours of sleep, she found herself in the main hall the next day, taking another bite of the mango. She gazed around the room as she let her mind wander from the boring drone of Seth's voice.

S.I.N.'s CEO sat in his straight-backed chair in front of the wall of monitors with clipboard in hand as he went on about his main project.

"I have received an update from Crimson Viper about the BLECE project," he was saying. "Work on the project has progressed more smoothly than I anticipated and it's nearly finished. I will leave for a couple of days. It's about time we set our sights on – is something wrong, Juri?"

Juri had nearly choked on a piece of fruit.

From the position where she was standing she had a good view of the screens behind Seth. Someone had appeared on the monitor of the upper left camera, the one in the left eye of the Buddha. The figure was small on the screen, but there was no mistaking the red hair and the athletic build. He had walked out of the jungle's foliage that surrounded the temple ruins and was now staring at the Buddha statue – the place where one of the entrances to S.I.N's headquarters was underneath.

Juri coughed and thumped her chest with a fist. She realized Seth was staring at her.

"Down the wrong way," she croaked, and fidgeted, keeping the synthetic human's attention on her and away from what was occurring behind him.

A part of the black-haired woman was elated; she hadn't expected Adon to find her trail this quickly and she was pleasantly surprised at his decisiveness. Another part of her cursed the Muay Thai warrior for that same assertiveness; he couldn't have come at a more inconvenient time. If he had only waited until Seth had left….

Seth had stifled a sigh at what he had presumed was more of her unruliness. Thankfully, with his back to the computer screens, he hadn't noticed the figure of the Muay Thai fighter blithely walking into S.I.N. territory.

"What I was saying," he went on pointedly, "is that we need to set our sights on test subjects for the project. I have ordered Viper to compose a list of potential targets and I will go over it with her…."

Blah, blah, blah.

Juri surreptitiously watched Adon as he looked around the old ruins. He didn't seem too impressed by what he saw, but what else was new? At least he had enough common sense to stay at the jungle's edge. Seth had opted for secrecy instead of security, so there wasn't heavy patrolling, but there was still a chance of alerting the guards via the camera's hidden in the ruins.

Eventually the Thai moved back into the foliage, circled to the left and disappeared out of the camera's range. It was all Juri could do to remain where she was and not rush out the chamber; she wasn't exactly in good shape, but that had never before stopped the raven-haired woman from entertaining herself.

"I, of course, have been searching for test subjects myself as well," Seth meanwhile jabbered on. "And I have found –"

"Okay, I get it," the Korean interrupted him curtly. "You're going away for a couple of days to oversee the last stages of the BLECE project and look for test subjects to try it out on."

Seth blinked at her, for a second losing his proverbial footing at her uncharacteristic, straightforward remark. "That's basically it, yes."

"And you want me to take over while you're absent."

"Well...yes."

"No prob." Juri finished her mango, tried not to glance at the computer screens. "Can I go now?"

Seth peered at her, suspicion etched into his alien features. He knew something was up.

Juri stared back at him, not giving anything away, and eventually Seth looked down at the clipboard in his hand. "Very well," he said, voice terse. "At the moment I have no assignment for you, so do with your time what you will." He glanced up again.

Juri was already at the door leading out of the throne room. She could practically feel the synthetic man's annoyance at having her walk out on him before receiving his permission.

"Having plans?" he asked her irritably.

Juri looked back at him and gave him a sly smile. "Hunting," she said.


End file.
